Rabobank in Chicago
Holland
Staff communication magazine for the Rabct
Australian
acquisition
Milan makes
branch
International
expansion
Shopping around
Looking ahead
in BRIEF
House-style on tour
First option
First again
Emerging fund
Fighting crime
ISSUE 35/14 NOVEMBER 1994
On October 28, the bank opened its fourth office in the US.
Chairman Herman Wijffels was there to launch the new
operation in America's third largest city.
Primary Industry Bank of
Australia (PIBA) was taken
over officially on October 5.
We profile the latest addition
to the Rabobank Group
(see pages 6/7).
The former Milan-based
Rabofin fïnance company has
been upgraded to branch.
(see pages 4/5).
In the past few weeks, the bank
has opened no less than four
new offices - Dublin, Chicago,
Warsaw and Shanghai. In this
issue, we focus on the PRC -
see page 3.
The lastest in the bank's series
of sector studies examines
retailing world-wide. It is
now available from Marketing
Services, telephone:
+31 (0)30 902331.
November 17/18: Financial
markets international road
show goes to Zurich.
November 29: Rabobank
present at the Europe
trade fair.
December 7: Chairman Her
man Wijffels launches Rabo-
bank's Vision 1995 in Utrecht.
December 12: Chile and Argen-
tina are the focus of a 'country
da/ to be held at head office.
January 18: Madrid-based
Popular Rabobank opens its
doors officially - after a year of
operations.
March 29/30: International
grain conference to be held in
Spain.
Chicago is one of the US's most
important fmancial centres, with
a major commodity and options
exchanges, and this was defini-
tely a consideration when selec-
ting the location for a new offi
ce in this giant country. Howe-
ver, the prime criterium was this
city's importance as a food and
agribusiness centre. 'It is truly
advantageous to be close to your
clients,' says North America GM
Dennis Ziengs. 'It was becoming
increasing difficult to service
customers from New York or
Dallas. And when you're closer,
you able to see more clearly how
things are. From a distance, a
risk is a risk. But if you know the
territory and are on the spot, you
sometimes find the risk is no risk
at all because you understand
the context and the back
ground.'
The Chicago office has opened
with an initial staff of 12 bring-
ing the total US Rabobankers up
to 222. 'We began in New York,'
says Wijffels, 'and we've follow-
ed the hands of the clock in set
ting up new operations - fïrst
Dallas, then San Francisco, now
Chicago. But we're not fmished
yet.' Although there are no con
crete plans to open up other
offices in the US, or in Canada,
which is still virgin territory for
the bank, Wijffels says the aim is
to 'achieve our US growth tar
gets ofbetween 8 and 10 percent
per year.'
To coincide with the opening,
Utrecht organized a so-called 'US
country day'. More than 200 re-
presentatives of member banks
and clients participated in a
variety of workshops on doing
business with the US. 'A lot of our
clients are interested in the US,'
explains organizer Cecilia Tid-
ström of International Banking
Services. 'The dollar exchange rate
may be unstable, but there are
clear signs the US economy is
picking up.'
Nine special house-style and
positioning extravaganzas have
been organized for the coming
weeks to press home the message
launched at the kick-off meeting
in September. The evenings wil!
be a subtle blend of entertain
ment, music, cabaret and infor-
mation.
According to the authoritative fi-
nancial journal, Risk Magazine,
Rabobank is number one when
it comes to interest swaps and op
tions in Dutch guilders. Over 200
banks, investment banks and
stock brokers in the UK were ask-
ed who was the best, and Rabo
bank rated highest on both price
and speed. ABN AMRO was
second in both categories.
The Dutch financial magazine,
FEM, surveyed its corporate
readers on cliënt satisfaction with
their banks. ABN AMRO was
considered too distant and too
expensive. ING was careless.
Rabobank topped the ratings and
is described by the magazine as 'a
sleeping giant that has woken'.
The bank's investment partner,
Robeco, has set up a new emerg
ing markets fund for retail cus
tomers in the Netherlands. The
fund will invest world-wide, but
specifically in fast-growing emerg
ing markets, such as Poland, Bra-
zil, Mexico, Malaysia and Chile.
Member-bank Utrecht was in-
strumental in rolling up two drug
gangs. In April last year, bank
staff noticed excessive amounts
of D-Marks, French and Belgian
Francs were being exchanged on
a daily basis. The police were
alerted and they managed to tracé
the large quantities of foreign cash
to drug dealers in Rotterdam.
