Rabobank - Past and Present 4 International The beginnings of internationalization Part 2 Deadline diary 1993 results - satisfactory performance ISSUE 27/21 MARCH 1994 In the previous issue, Bert Steketee recalled the early days of the bank's international activities. He continues his story here... 'Around 1978, the main task we had was creating a structure with- in the bank that would enable us to develop the kind of activities we now call "international". This meant we had to show prospec- tive clients that we were adapt- able and open for this type of market. 'Following our first foray into the world of international banking through the jv with Bank of America and which was ulti- mately wound down, the next step appeared to us to be the establishment of an office in the US. An executive board member, Vlak, then recruited Hugo Steensma, who by this time had returned to the States, to start up this new office that was to be lo- cated in New York. In terms of the bank's US activities, you could say the rest is history. 'How- ever, this was only our first step towards real internationalization. I'd like to mention Curacao here because, in fact, it was the first office we ever opened abroad. But as the Netherlands Antilles is so closely linked to Holland, it didn't seem quite the same as going into a totally new market. 'Our next step was to try and be- come more operational in the sense that we began establishing an international payments ser vice. We got onto Swift, we moved our foreign currency activities from Amsterdam to Utrecht. This is when we really began im- posing limits and putting in operational management struc- tures for forex dealing. This was around 1980. 'I'd say it was at about that time that you begin to see the begin nings of international thinking at the bank. We realized we were the primary lender to the primary agricultural sector and a lot of those products were exported. So we began asking ourselves: How can we be in those places where we can follow the trade flows? This led us to what you could call a "harbour" philosophy. In other words, the feeling was we should O O be in the major ports, such as Hamburg, Rotterdam. We also believed we had to be in the fi- nancial centres, like London, where flows of commodities are traded. 'That philosophy was gradually translated into policy in the early 1980s. It was put into practice by people like Gijs van der Schriek, who started up operations in Singapore. In the US, Hugo Steensma achieved great things for the bank. He has great charisma and is a marketeer par excellence. He gave us a real place in the American agri- market. 'Looking back now, I'd say our internationalization really began in 1978 and slowly crystalized over a period of about five to six years. By 1984, we had the be ginnings of a real network - of fices in New York, Curacao, Ger- many, London and Zurich - on which to build. We've come a heil of a long way since then.' Raboband International wants to keep you fully in- formed on developments within the international div- ision. To do this, we need your help. If you have any items you think may be interesting for other Rabo- bankers, please send them to us at UC-R 514. We work to strict deadlines and those for the coming year are listed below. Issue Deadline April 1 April May 29 April Jurie 28 May July 1 July August 30 July September 26 August October 25 September November 24 October December 20 November On AAarch 4, the bank announced its balance sheet results over 1993. Profits grew by 10 percent due to cost control policies and to higher CBS income. In spite of an economically dis- appointing year for the Nether lands (growth hovered around zero percent), the bank has pro- duced respectable increases in most of its activities. Lending grew 9 percent; commission in come was up 10.6 percent; gross profit rose 10.4 percent; and net profit reached 10.1 percent. The bank's corporate credit portfolio continued to expand, expecially abroad, and lending generated by the international division now forms a 26.5-per- cent share of total private sector lending. However, the inflow of funds entrusted was disappoint- ing and the bank was obliged to make greater calls on the inter national financial markets in or der to fund strong growth in lending. The dragon bond issue at the end of last year is just one example of the bank's higher- profile activities in the interna tional financial markets. The in ternational division's contribu- tion to Group activities again grew strongly from 12 to 14 per cent of the total balance sheet. Says Rik van Slingelandt (pho- to): 'Our results are excellent. We performed well above a very aggressive budget. Although treasury was a real winner for their international division, all of the other products, including those newly introduced, showed sharp improvements in results. All in all, I'd say we have also achieved a substantial improvement in the quality of our results.' The outlook for the whole Group over the coming year is optimis- tic. Policies already in place aimed at further reduction of costs and at controlled and quali- tative growth will be pursued vigorously and forecasts for this coming year indicate the bank's performance will continue to improve.

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blad 'Raboband International' (EN) | 1994 | | pagina 4