Rabobank «hief
sponsor for World
Equestrian Games
Holland
in BRIEF
Staff communication magazine for the Rab
Germany
restructures
No more tears
for Argentina
International
in numbers
Looking ahead
Tidy profits
Growing Dutch
The art of seiling
Mortgage
explosion
ISSUE 32/15 AUGUST 1994
The Netherlands played host to 800 riders and 1,000 horses from
50 different countries in what can only be described as the biggest
sporting event held there since the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928.
Following an intense period of
self-examination, Rabobank
Deutschland is in the process
of a major reorganization.
See page 2.
Peter Greenberg explains how
the Argentinians beat mega-
inflation in just three years,
and what the country's now
stable economie growth means
for the bank. See page 4.
Over the past seven years, the
international division's staff
abroad has almost doubled ac-
cording to figures released in
June. At the end of 1986,598
people were employed at nine
Rabobank foreign offices. On
June 1 this year, the number
had increased to 1,124 at 23
operations worldwide. Large
branches, such as New York
and London have grown by
over 200 percent in the last
seven years. However, Hong
Kong is the biggest 'grower' -
it went from four staff in
1986 to the current 94.
August 29-31: International
annual dealers' meeting will
be held in Utrecht.
August 31: The recently
published survey on the inter
national seed industry will be
presented at a 'business even-
ing' co-hosted by the Dutch
ministry of agriculture at the
Utrecht head office.
September 12-16: The annual
meeting of agri-trade and
trade finance account man
agers will be held in Utrecht.
October: Intermopro, the in
ternational dairy fair held in
Dusseldorf annually is
co-sponsored by Rabobank.
Rabobank's sponsorship of the
WEG represents the culmination
of long-standing support for
equestrian sports. However, one
of the main aims behind fïnan-
cial backing was the opportunity
to increase the bank's interna
tional name recognition through
extensive worldwide television
coverage.
Besides this major advantage, as
sponsor the bank was also able
to offer its personnel substantial
reductions on tickets, and the
opportunity to participate in
staff games. July 30 was Rabo-
bankers' day and riders from the
whole organization competed in
various disciplines, including
dressage and jumping. 'It's an
amazing opportunity for staff,'
says chief of sponsorship Simon
Kuijpers, 'because this one-day
event was not only held at the
height of the Games, but also
gave them the chance to put their
horses through their paces on a
circuit that had been riden by the
sport's top people and horses
only hours before.'
One of the top riders was Brazil's
Marcello Strauss who competed
in the endurance discipline -
both rider and horse were spon-
sored by Raibo do Brasil.
Rabobank sponsors a wide range
of sport and cultural activities.
At present, the bank is providing
financial support for the football
world cup for the mentally han-
dicapped (slated for August 20 to
September 1 in the Dutch town
of Hoogeveen), and also for the
restoration of two major Ver
meer paintings - the View of
Delft and Girl with thepearl. The
two pictures were badly in need
of restoration and on completion
will form part of the first-ever
Vermeer retrospective. This in-
ternationally important exhi-
bition is jointly organized by the
National Gallery of Art in Wash
ington and the Maurtitshuis in
The Hague, which houses the
Dutch Royal Collection. The
Washington exhibit will be
mounted in 1995 and the pic
tures will then travel to The
Hague for exposition in 1996
A Japanese TV producer was so
fascinated by the fact that the
cashier at member-bank Gennep
took an iron to paper money to
tidy it up that he sent a film crew
to record it for a quiz show. But
ironing out the wrinkles in used
bank notes (only smooth ones
are accepted by the Dutch central
bank) is now old hat. Cora van
den Berg of member bank The
Hague has come up with an even
better idea. After bundling, bank
notes are straightened out using
an old-fashioned flea comb. The
member bank has calculated that
the 'money comb' means a sav-
ing of one half man year or NLG
30,000 per year.
The Dutch population will con
tinue to grow in the coming
years. At present, there are 15.3
million people living in the
Netherlands, and growth is cur-
rently around 0.7 percent an
nually. Around 60 percent of
growth is due to increased birth
rates and 40 percent is immi-
gration.
Professional galleries in the
Netherlands sold over 50,000
pieces of art in 1992 for a total of
NLG 70 million. This means
each gallery made around 130
sales at an average price of NLG
1,100 per work.
Compared to the same period
last year, the number of mort-
gages grew 80 percent in the first
quarter of 1994. An increase of
this size is unprecedented in
Dutch history. 95,000 home
mortgages were registered in the
first three months of this year
involving NLG 14.1 billion -
NLG 6 billion more than in 1993.
