What's NewS
United Kingdom
Rabobanking in
The City
^^UPPLEMENT HOR WHAT'S NewS FEBRUARY 1996
NETHÉRLANDS
FRANCE
For an international network asyoungas Rabobank's, a 10-
year anniversary is something to celebrate. But in London's
centuries-long history as a major global financial centre, a
single decade is little more than a drop in the Thames.
'That's why we limited the festivities to a staff party, rather
than making a big splash outside,' says London Branch's
)general manager Gijs van der Schrieck. Yet, in those short 10
years, London Branch and its Edinburgh office have
managed to make a real impact. Van der Schrieck talks us
through how his team is building an operation which takes
full advantage of the opportunities offered by The City.
'No offence to the world's and for all of the other
other major financial centres,' financial institutions here, that
says Van der Schrieck, 'but the means things can be done here
fact of the matter is that more easily and efficiently than
London remains the heart of in other places. It also means
the financial universe. For us, the expertise is here, too. We
Ten years of Rabobanking general manager Gijs van der Schrieck
cuts the celehratory cake with Lynn Quilliam who joined the bank a
decade ago.
intend to make use of every
opportunity that gives us.'
LENDING TO
WHOLESALE
According to Van der Schrieck,
a twin focus on servicing the UK
market and on developing
London Branch into one of the
centres of specific expertise and
competence for the rest of the
network has led to a clear
change from a lending to a
wholesale bank. 'By wholesale
bank,' he says, 'I mean we offer
the cliënt the whole range of our
products in corporate banking,
corporate finance and treasury.
It is a logical development, not
least because the margins you
can get on lending go nowhere
near making the kind of return
on solvency we need to meet
our targets.
THE FAMOUS FIVE
This transformation into a
wholesale operation was
launched just over two years
ago, and is known in the bank
affectionately as the 'Five Fox
Hills' (see box next page). 'It's
how we dubbed our strategy,'
Van der Schrieck laughs. The
management team got together
in this country place to hammer
out the key elements of our
refocussed approach to the
market. The place was called
Fox Hills. Now, all the staff see
EDINBURGH
DUBLIN
RABOBANK LONDEN
In 1983 startte de Rabobank meteen vertegenwoordiging in Londen.Twee jaar later werd deze omgezet in een kantoor. Londen groeide
uit tot een succesvolle vestiging, die vorig jaar haar tweede lustrum vierde. Sinds 1990 beschikt Londen ook over een Loan Production
Office (LPO) in Edinburgh. Kantoor Londen maakt gebruik van de voordelen die vestiging in het financiële centrum van de wereld biedt. Sinds twee jaar
voorziet Londen haar klanten niet alleen van alle produkten op het gebied van corporate banking, maar ook op het gebied van corporate finance en
treasury. Gijs van der Schrieck geeft een overzicht van de ontwikkelingen gedurende de afgelopen jaren. En hij vertelt over de uitstekende resultaten
die Londen heeft geboekt.
