Man at the top
m
24
talking heads
What'S NewS Issue 1 January 1996
In our series on 'the person behind' the job title, we ask
CBS's management chairman and international chief what
he does in his rare spare time.
In many ways, D.J.M.G. Baron van
Slingelandt is a very private man. The long
days he puts into the bank six days a week
are directed at achieving the growth and
well-being of CBS in general and the
international division in particular.
Although he travels less often for the bank
than he used to, he is still away from
home a lot and, perhaps surprisingly, still
enjoys leisure travel with his family during
holidays. 'There are some places in this
world with a rare natural beauty,' he says,
'and I've been fortunate enough to see
some of them. The tea plantations in the
interior of Indonesia spring immediately
to mind, and of course the coastal area
near Rio de Janeiro where we lived when I
worked for RSV in Brazil. There's a region
of 1,000 islands there which is spectacular.'
While he does not sail, Van Slingelandt
has had a life-time relationship with boats.
'I mean big boats,' he says. 'My father was
in shipbuilding and we lived in Rotterdam
when I was a boy. There was a time when
I knew the arrival and departure times of
all the traffic in the port. To this day, I'm
still fascinated by big ships.'
It may have been his love of ships that
prompted the idea for a sailing club
during his university days in Groningen
where he studied economics. Laughing, he
recalls how he got together with a group
of friends and set up the club. 'We didn't
actually have a boat, but the water-side
bar we started did a roaring trade. So I
spent all the free time I had during my
studies waiting tables and running the
"business". It was a lot of fun.'
holland updatey-
VISION '96
The bank's now
traditional forecasts on
international economie
developments for the
coming year was
presented to the media
on December 7. Dutch
economics minister
Wijers received the first
copy of the consise
overview. A similar
presentation will be
made to Rabobank
Belgium's clients on
January 18.
SECTOR
INNOVATION
Holland and France
have the most
innovative financial
sectors in Europe
according to the
London-consultancy
company Datamonitor.
Insurers received the
biggest accolade for
their highly-developed
application of direct
writing.
AA FOR
ABN-AMRO
S&P's have upgraded
ABN-Amro from AA-
to AA. As a result,
Moody's says the
Netherlands has
reinforced its position
as the strongest
banking country in the
world. The credit
rating agency added
that Dutch banks were
the most sound and
reliable worldwide.
ING IN NORTH
KOREA
A joint-venture with
the Korean Foreign
Insurance Company
was launched by ING
in the North-Korean
capital, Pyongyang, on
December 5. It is the
first foreign bank to set
up operations there.
Focus will be trade
finance, international
payments traffic and
project finance.
Other fun things are gardening - 'I just do
the rough stuff, my wife takes care of the
creative side' - tennis with friends and
skiing. He doesn't play golf because 'I
think you have to be relatively egoistic to
be a golfer - it's a time consuming sport.
And my work means I already spend
enough time away from my family.
Even when he is talking about fun things,
work remains an inherent part of his
conversation. 'I can't help that,' he grins,
'it has always been a major part of my life.
You know, many people think I came
from industry. But actually I began my
career in banking - financing shipbuilders
for the National Investment Bank in
The Hague. Then I was offered a job in
shipping itself. Everyone said I was
superbly crazy to give up a nice career in
banking to move to a company, RSV, that
was on the verge of bankruptcy. And at
the time, this industry was being
dismantled here in Holland. But when
you're young, you've got something to
prove. This was my opportunity. I had a
great boss there and we worked day and
night. It was fun and we managed to keep
the company alive for another seven years.
In the end, it failed. But we knew everything
had been done that could have been done
and no bank or creditor lost a penny. An
experience like that teaches you a lot
about the value of money and about how
people react to losing situations. It makes
you harder, because most people run
instead of fight. It's always a shame to see
something fall apart, especially when a lot
of people have worked hard to build it.
And though it's a fact of life, it's never fun
- absolutely not.'
Van Slingelandt found a very different
challenge when he arrived at the bank in
1989. His task was to expand international
activities from a relatively small number
of offices to a real global network. 'When
I joined the bank, I said I wanted to stay
in position as head of international for a
serious period of time. Banks tend to
move people around every two or three
years. But, at that pace, you never learn
from your own mistakes. The executive
board took me quite literally at my word,
and I think rightly so. I keep on going at
my own pace with the Central Banking
Sector and I have to admit, it's a lot of fun.'