People
2 International
International
networking pays
off
Capital markets
<elebration
Television
promotion in China
ISSUE 33/1 9 SEPTEMBER 1994
Brazil Sao Paulo account man
ager Ricardo Fleury Lacerda
(left) has been accepted into the
graduate program of New York's
Columbia University to pursue
his MBA degree. He requested a
sabbatical from the bank to fol-
low his studies and this was grant-
ed. According to the Can Do
team, they look forward to seeing
their new MBA graduate back in
the office in December 1995.
Executive assistant Astrid Cal-
lenbach has gone on maternity
leave but will return in February.
Until that time, she will be
replaced by Ahuva Markovitz
Belfer.
London The treasury has a new
corporate dealer. James Arnold
joined the bank on August 5.
David Roche was appointed
manager of the commodities and
trade finance department on
September 1. Secretary Chris
Hitchcock left on August 5.
North America Ten new Rabo-
bankers joined the New York
and Chicago staff over the sum-
mer. Keith Bigwood was ap
pointed vice-president and
mortgaged backed specialist in
the treasury department. He
comes to the bank from Tucker
Anthony. Formerly with Fuku-
toku Bank, Ronald Cutro
strengthens the corporate ser
vices department as senior loan
processor. Rudy Espinosa was
with IBJ Schroder Bank and
Trust before taking up his new
position as vice president,
foreign exchange in treasury.
Michael King is Chicago-based
vice president and account man
ager. He gained his banking ex-
perience with Citibank, Con
tinental and BZW. The foreign
exchange department has a new
documentation clerk. Zoraida
Astacio comes to the bank from
Allied Irish. Luis de Leon brings
experience from Doral Inn Hotel
and Forest Group to his position
as general services clerk. Assis
tant vice president and senior fi
nancial analyst Robert Sarlis
built his experience at Citibank
and ABN AMRO among others
before joining Rabobank. Nilsa
Ramirez joins the bank as credit
department file clerk/typist from
David Green Associates. Luis
Santine completed his MBA
with The American University in
Washington, D.C. before being
appointed an associate in the
corporate finance department.
Assistant vice president and
senior financial analyst Gregory
Mojica will be joining the
Chicago office from the First
Chicago Corporation. All ap-
pointments are effective.
In an almost classic example
of CAM networking between a
foreign office, headoffice and
a strategie alliance partner,
Rabofin Italia has been
instrumental in winning a
major contract from Dutch
multinational DSM for Cariplo.
The new multibillion lira agree-
ment between strategie alliance
partner Cariplo and the DSM
concern is currently in the final
stages of implementation. DSM,
which has a number of activities
in Italy, was looking for a lira
clearing. 'Four banks had been
invited to bid for the contract,'
says Roland van Limburg Stirum
of Rabofin.I nitially, Cariplo was
not included, but as we were well
known to the concern in the
Netherlands, we were able to
convince them to allow our
Italian partner to bid. As Rabofin
Rabobank is the fifth most
frequent borrower using the
Europ Medium Term Note
program, and has recently
increased its ceiling to a
significant ECU 6 billion. The
increase was cause for
celebration and the structured
funding team invited its
'arrangers' to the Netherlands
to help mark the occasion.
A short item on Rabobank is
to be included in a four-part
documentary series on the
Netherlands to be broadcast
by China's SCTV station at the
end of September.
Gateway to Europe: The Nether
lands, its economy and culture is
designed to provide Chinese TV
audiences with a more accurate
view of the country than the tra
ditional image of clogs, tulips
and windmills. Rabobank will be
featured in part three, which
focuses on the Dutch economy.
The item includes an interview
with investor relations manager
Freek Hoek in Utrecht's dealing
room and a short discussion with
Sjouke Postma on trade relations
between the Netherlands and
China, and on the bank's Far-
Eastern network. The backdrop
for the Postma interview is the
Port of Rotterdam and includes
footage of the Rotterdam office.
The opportunity to participate in
the documentary, which will also
be broadcast via China Satellite
at the end of October in both
Mandarin and English, comes at
an important time for the bank.
The initial transmission on
Chinese television coincides with
preparations for the launch of
the new rep office in Shanghai,
and will certainly add to name
recognition among potential and
existing Chinese clients. The
second broadcast, which can be
seen throughout South-east Asia,
should have a similar impact.
The talk is all capital markets, but
the venue bears little resem-
blance to the staid locations
where brokers from houses such
as Goldman Sachs, Lehman
Brothers and Swiss Banking Cor
poration usually do business. In
fact, a traditional Dutch sailing
boat on the IJsselmeer Lake is a
far cry from the financial districts
of London, Zurich and Paris. But
this was, after all, a celebration,
and the brokers took to sailing
like the proverbial ducks to wa
ter.
Brokers play a major role in plac-
ing Rabobank paper, and are
particularly important when it
comes to the EMTN program.
'This program is a really useful
tooi for us,' explains head of der-
ivatives and structured invest-
ments Jan Sijbrand. 'A normal
bond issue requires an awful lot
of legal paperwork and docu
mentation. In contrast, the
EMTN acts as the basic docu
mentation and we can then fill
in specifics. It saves us a lot of
is a finance company, we were
not in a position to compete our-
selves, so the next best thing is to
try and channel the business to a
strategie alliance partner.'
What DSM needed was a cash
management system that would
automatically zero balance its
operating accounts on a daily
basis and regulate cash flows
from and to its central coordi-
nation centre in Belgium. 'We
acted as intermediaries between
the two parties,' Van Limburg
Stirum explains, 'and assisted
them at the presentation of their
bid. It was finally accepted, and
IBS people then went to the
DSM coordination centre and
briefed the staff there on the
Cariplo system. So, you see, we
have been involved at every stage
of the process.'
Up until this major deal, Cariplo
and Rabobank's alliance had
been fairly low-key. Says Van
Limburg Stirum: 'We waited a
long time for a major joint activ-
ity, and I can only say it really
was worth waiting for.'
work and also has the advantage
of flexibility in that we can tailor
the terms of the loan to the
lender's needs using derivatives.'
The lender would usually be
foreign institutional investors
who often have very specific re-
quirements. 'One requirement
would tend to be a Triple-A rating,
that's of critical importance,' says
Alex Spain of Lehman Brothers.
'While Rabobank is not the only
bank with this rating, we often
call them first because we are
sure of a rapid response. The
lines of communication within
the financial markets depart
ment are extremely short, so we
know we'11 get an answer fast.'
All the brokers agreed Rabobank
paper was easy to place. 'Rabo
bank has immediate name recog
nition among European retail in
vestors,' explains Martin Scheck
of SBC. 'The bank has worked in
the various markets for a long
time and has built up a lot of
goodwill and respect for the pro-
fessionalism of its structured
funding operation. Rabobank's
targets are more aggressive than
many other Triple-A rated insti-
tutions, but it's highly respected
and has an incredibly efficiënt
funding operation, so everyone
makes money, including us.'
