Euro info
TAKES OFF
The Utrecht-based Euro Infodesk is the latest addition in
our information arsenal - a leading edge in the bank's
effort to emerge as the Netherlands'top euro-orientated
bank in the run-up to European monetary union.
The Euro Infodesk team is waiting to answer your queries.
From left: Richard Piechocki, Inge Mulders, Wim Boonstra,
Slovenka Ristic and Henk van der Heijden.
Headed up by Richard Piechocki, the
Communications coördinator, and joined
by Slovenka Ristic, responsible for
operations and administration, the Euro
Infodesk can be seen as the banks primary
interface for information on all issues
related to the euro and EMU, both for the
local and foreign offices as well as for the
bank's domestic and international cliënt
base. The Euro Infodesk will serve the
entire Rabobank group - including local
offices and affiliated subsidiaries like De
Lage Landen, Interpolis, Gilde and
Nedship, and it forms the proactive arm
of Rabobank's overall EMU coordination
unit, which operates under the Steering
Committee headed by Jan Groninger of
the Executive Board and coordinated by
Wim Boonstra.
RAISING AWARENESS
The composition of the new desks'
'customer' base - and the focus of
customer queries - are revealing. 'So far,
many of our users have been internal
callers. We've also had several contacts
with Dutch corporates who are clients of
FUNDING
(continued from page 11)
also fund ourselves through private
placements, through stand-alone public
lending, and through bank bills.
Meanwhile, a new Emerging Markets
Linked Notes program is being developed.
In principle, such notes would make it
possible to hedge our exposure on loans in
important markets like Brazil and Chile. In
return for higher interest premium, buyers
of these latter instruments would assume
the country risks that we would otherwise
run. Thus, should one of the countries
involved place limits on the outflow of hard
currency, for example, the investor would
be repaid in the local denomination. An
added attraction is the fact that funds
brought in by these programs are exempt
from Dutch central bank risk provisioning
requirements.
Rabobank International,' Piechocki
explains. 'However, both awareness and
interest in the transition is gradually
starting to piek up.' The emphasis, for
now, is on the word gradually. 'We're
already taking quite a few calls every day,
although I must admit that we've yet to
hear from foreign-based clients. We are
anxious to serve them, but they've yet to
take the reality of this transition on board.
DEMAND FOR DETAIL
'The questions we have received to date
have - on the whole - been fairly
abstract,' Piechocki continues. 'People will
of course become much more specific as
the 1999 launch date draws near. For
instance, customers will want to know
how to manage both guilders and the euro
simultaneously, or how the new currency
will fit in with their established pattern of
foreign money transfers.' As the demand
for detailed information increases,
Piechocki expects the Euro Infodesk to
add an additional staff economist, perhaps
as early as the first half of this year. Henk
van der Heijden, the IT specialist, will be
co-located in the same facility.
GROWING INFO FLOWS
The Euro Infodesk's inauguration last
October was one of several developments
that demonstrate the quickening tempo on
the informational front. Late last year our
euro web page on the Internet was
launched, with planned links to the Dutch
Finance Ministry's National Forum
initiative and other interesting sites, while
January saw the publication of the first
internal EMU news bulletin in Dutch.
Preparations are also well underway for
the launch of the Euro Newsletter, a joint
venture between ourselves, Ernst Moret 8c
Young, and the Dutch publisher Samson.
SEMINAR DATE
The newsletter, which will include
contributions from leading economists
both inside and outside the bank, is to be
launched at a Rabo-organized seminar for
accountants in Wassenaar, Holland, in
EURO - COSTLY SWITCH
Few banks in Europe have failed to launch
some kind of Euro-related info service,
often taking initiatives ahead of
government agencies. In fact, this is hardly
surprising as banks will bear much of the
cost involved in the transition to a single
currency. Here's a few numbers for you that
show just how much the monetary union
could cost us and the competition.
The Netherlands Central Bank estimates
transition will cost around NLG 7 billion,
with the retail sector alone docking up a
bill of NLG 2 billion.The European Bank
Federation is less optimistic. It is forecasting
a cost of between ECU 8 and 10 billion (ECU
1: NLG 2.10) as the price of transition for the
whole EU banking sector.
February. The keynote speaker at this
meeting will be Rabo's EMU project
coördinator Wim Boonstra. The new
newsletter will be distributed under the
Rabobank logo in Dutch, for distribution^
at the local banks. At this moment,
Rabobank International is considering the
publication of further informative material
on the subject in English, as well.
The E.uro Infodesk can be reached on
+31 (0)30 216 4000 or, by e-mail, at
eurodesk@rn.rabobank.nlA Dutch
language version of our euro-related site
on the Internet's World Wide Web can be
accessed on http://193.78.80.83/euro/
EURO INFODESK
De Euro Infodesk in
Utrecht is het centrale
punt binnen onze bank
voor alle vragen van de internationale
kantoren, de locale banken en onze
(internationale) klanten over de Euro. Een
centraal, goed bereikbaar punt voor alle
'Euro-vragen' past in ons streven om, als
kennisgedreven bank, ook op dit gebied
onze kwaliteit te bewijzen.
