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OPERATIONS - NETWORK
TESTING GROUND
BARINGS - THE AFTERMATH
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operations
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WHAT'S NewS Issue 7 July 1996
lf there is a system being tested anywhere in the
network, then you can almost bet your bottom dollar it
will be in Singapore. Hans Hannaart laughingly says its
because operations manager Oei Chu Boon and his
staff are more than willing to put in the months of
16-hour days, seven days a week required to get a new
system on line.
Chu Boon says its because he
and his team see it as a
challenge. 'It's a learning
curve,' he says, 'It's rather like
learning a martial art. You
have to practice every day and
that improves your
performance. That's how we
see it here. And I have to admit
we have a great team here -
dedicated, hard-working. They
are willing to put personal
things aside if they have made
a commitment.'
As the network well knows,
even the intense level of
commitment from the
Singapore team was unable to
get Atlas up and running last
year. 'It was a nasty
experience,' Chu Boon
confirms. 'But our attitude is:
never say die. Devon is up and
doing great for us.'
One of the reasons Chu Boon
and his team, which includes
all back office back office
departments along with the
Singapore IT group, is keen to
get the best possible systems is
because they see operations as
a profit centre. 'In terms of
staff,' he says, 'we're hardly
flabby. Because of the very
specific labour situation here,
it's difficult to recruit good
people at a reasonable cost. So,
we like automation here. We
look to systems to solve our
problems. You know, our
treasury and commercial
people are so dynamic that
operations has had to go
through what I call a
metamorphosis. What we're
looking to do in the coming
years is to set up distinct
stream, such as treasury,
commercial, and information
technology. Essentially, what
we're looking at is creating a
Oei Chu Boon
dedicated customer service
centre. The idea behind such a
centre is that each of our
clients should be able to
telephone one person to find
out exactly how his account
stands. I call this a back-office
relationship management
structure. We're actually
obliged to go this route
because as the front office
grows, we also have to grow
back-office expertise to match
that development. I think
you'll see that happening very
soon.'
Kristine Chen
Singapore has a reputation as a
stringent regulatatory And in the
aftermath of the Barings scandal,
regulation has become tighten
still, says internal auditor Kristine
Chen whose three-person team
continually monitors Rabobank's
systems and procedures: 'The f
Central Bank here was well-known
worldwide for its tough activity to
prevent undesirable practices.l
don't know whether other
branches in the network receive
surprise visits from the Central
Bank, but we certainly do.
And they call me fairly frequently
to find out whether we're actually
complying with all of the
recommendations made by
head office, external auditors and,
of course,the internal auditors
here.' Since last year, the Central
Bank has become even tougher
OPERATIONS
Een nieuw systeem voor het internationale kantorennet wordt meestal eerst getest in Singapore. Oei Chu Boon en zijn team staan
als het moet 16 uur per dag, 7 dagen per week, klaar om een systeem on-line te krijgen. Geavanceerde systemen zijn hard nodig
om de grote groei van de activiteiten bij te houden. Goed personeel tegen acceptabele kosten is nauwelijks te krijgen. De nieuwe systemen moeten
hier een oplossing bieden.
