EMU - CURRENCY UPDATE
12
euro development
Agreement among European leaders meeting in Dublin in December last year
on a tough stability pact for the common European currency, or euro, and the
simultaneous unveiling of the new currency's actual design, have added
momentum to this important enterprise.To help capture EMU-related
opportunities both domestically and abroad, Rabobank's Hans Reusch, recently
appointed full time coördinator within Rabobank International's euro currency
transition team, has introduced an EMU awareness program that will begin
internally and gradually spread outwards into the cliënt base.
This month's 'ID Exchange' meeting on 16
January focuses exclusively on the euro
conversion. Wim Boonstra addresses the
gathering, as specialist in monetary issues
and relations with the central bank, as
does Han Segaar, on issues concerned with
payments services. This month will also
see an internal one-day seminar intended
to familiarize officers of Rabobank
International, directly involved in business
affected by the transition now underway,
with every aspect of the forthcoming
transition.
Topics covered will include the monetary,
economie, tax, legal, commercial, and (last
but not least) operational issues involved.
This will be followed by a more in-depth
meeting including staff from all the
foreign offices directly affected by the
transition now underway.
EUROPROOF
'The essential first step is that we inform
ourselves thoroughly and quickly so that
we can be in a position to be of real
IN HET SPOOR VAN
DE EURO
In December van vorig
jaar bereikten de
Europese leiders in Dublin overeen
stemming over een pakket maatregelen
voor de Euro. Daarnaast werd het ontwerp
voorde Euro-biljetten onthuld. Ook wij
zitten niet stil. In januari vindt in Utrecht een
bijeenkomst plaats waar medewerkers, die
in hun werk direct te maken hebben met de
gevolgen van de invoering van de Euro, op
de hoogte worden gebracht van de huidige
stand van zaken. Deze wordt gevolgd door
een bijeenkomst met een aantal mede
werkers van de buitenlandse kantoren, waar
meer in de diepte gediscussieerd zal
worden. Ook zullen dit kwartaal in Utrecht
panel-bijeenkomsten plaatsvinden met
belangrijke klanten van Corporate
Banking.
assistance to our clients,' says Reusch. To
play a leading role in the food and agri
business worldwide, Rabobank must
simultaneously establish its
'europroofness' and project an image of
savvy awareness. This spreading of the
word among the clients is scheduled to
begin very soon indeed. Clients are
already confronting the realities of
unfolding events.
HIGH POINT
Sometime during this first quarter, the
Corporate Banking group in Utrecht
intends to organize a series of panels with
important corporate customers. Account
managers will be expected to play the role
of 'informed secretaries' in a two-way
exchange of ideas. If successful, the
meeting will be a template for other
branches. 'It is important that we are able
to convey the impression that we are
faultlessly grounded in every aspect of this
field,' he says. A high point will come this
spring with a major euro conference for
all the important corporate clients to
strengthen our euro-aware image. Overall,
says Reusch, awareness of the euro
conversion is improving in Rabobank
International. Many ideas are now being
spontaneously generated.
RIGHT TRACK
The operations side is scanning existing
front- and back-office systems - payments,
documentary credits, forex and all the rest
- to ensure that they are truly euro proof
in time for the January 1, 1999 deadline.
Assuming conversion plans are generated
shortly by the Commercial Groups -
Corporate Banking, Corporate Finance,
Investment Banking and Private Banking,
and the Administration Group - a unified
Action Plan for Rabobank International
Head Office and Branch Utrecht will
probably appear later this month. This
plan will be a template for our European
foreign offices and for our non-European
foreign offices affected by the conversion.
Wim Duisenberg, the newly appointed
President of the European Monetary
Institute in Frankfurt launching the new
Euronotes.
Reusch is trying to be both pragmatic and
philosophical about the bank's urgent
task. He likens the process of conversion
to 'motivating any large creature'. 'It's
hard work,' he says. 'We have to push and
push. And then, when we finally manage
to get moving, we'll have the equally
difficult task of keeping ourselves on the
right track!'
v looking ahead T
January
February
12-13
25-26
March
3-4
12-14
12-15
May
7-9
12-14
22-23
Studies
January
March
Roadshow Italy
Roadshow Switzerland
International Bond Congres
Fruit Conference, London
VIV Asia, Bangkok
World Cotton Conference,
San Francisco
VIV Latin America, Sao Paulo
Congres F&A in China,
Beijing
UNICO Conference,
Maastricht
Beer study and
accompanying country
reports
Mercosur
Fresh Fruit
