E-day -
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS
Managers
OPERATIONAL
4
working relations
What'S NewS Issue 6 June 1997
Banks and other financial institutions throughout Europe have been
allocated - almost by default - a pivotal role in providing public information
on the Euro and what it will mean for clients - both retail and corporate. In
spite of political wrangling the business community will have to be ready for
every scenario.That means banks are not only confronted with their own
transition processes, but must also provide solutions to customers.The first
Rabobank cliënt seminar on the Euro was definitely a success. More
importantly, it showed just how much
preparation still has to be done.
Opening the seminar, board-member Jan
Groninger reminded the Dutch corporate
clients that there is not much time, but he
also indicated that statistics show the
Netherlands is one of the most advanced
countries in terms of preparation for
EMU. The majority of his audience looked
surprised. And laughed heartily when he
promptly informed them that according to
our own enquiries, few Dutch companies
When we say that Rabobank is really
international, it seems we mean it. For much
of our history major managerial meetings
were always held in 'head office'. Now, as the
network becomes more powerful,things are
clearly changing - for the first but certainly
not last time, New York played host to the
global operations managers'meeting in May.
'I see this as a positive move/confirms Henk
van de Stelt, the Rl board member
responsible for administration and IT. Clearly,
he means that both literally and figuratively.
New York welcomed ops managers from the
whole network and had an opportunity to
present the branch and North American
activities.'What I really enjoyed/comments
Paris's newly promoted operations manager
Herve Petit, 'was the chance to see how
everyone in the network is connected. It was
an incredible experience.'The meeting's
program was tight and included topics
ranging from business requirements in all of
our areas of activity - investment banking,
F&A, private banking,corporate finance and
organizational (ie. Rabobank itself). Both the
millennium problem and the impact of the
Euro were priorities for the managers.
EURO INFO
Rl Marketing (+31/216 2804) have current
information on the Euro for those interested.
The video 'Operation Euro'and brochure
'Business Implications of the Euro'will give
you the facts you need to know. Both video
and brochure touch on what Rabobank is
doing to facilitate introduction, both
internally and for business clients.
have even started work on the transition.
That sounds about right,' said accounting
and control manager Herman Bakker of
Hotelplan. 'We are just starting to think
about starting. That's why I'm here, to get
some concrete, but especially clear
information on the Euro. My main area of
interest at present is IT.'
FIRST THOUGHTS
The seminar had been structured on a
workshop basis, with each participant
able to attend two sessions per afternoon.
We offered the same program on two
consecutive afternoons so that if preferred,
each participant could attend all four -
treasury, fiscal and accounting, payments,
and IT. The reasoning behind these four
topics was simple - many people are
under the impression that the transition to
a single currency will only affect systems.
'We had an extremely useful session,'
remarked professor Van der Tas of Moret
Ernst &Young who moderated the fiscal
and accounting workshop. 'I received the
impression that although the responses to
the issues raised were good, this was
probably the first time many participants
had thought about how taxation and
accounting systems would have to change.'
JUST IN TIME
According to Lex Muusse of the powerful
Dutch energy corporate, Gasunie, 'we
have already done a lot of our homework
and from talking to people here, I'd say
we were well on our way to being ready.
But it was still very useful to be here.' In
contrast, financial controller Paul de
Bruijn of Kleiberg Beheer, a large
vegetable processor, remarked that
although he had picked up a lot of new
insights, his company was just beginning
EMU preparations. 'Groninger said that if
you hadn't been working on this for a
least a year now, you would miss the boat.
I don't think it is that urgent. If we start
now, I'm convinced we'11 be in time.'
SMOOTHING THE TRANSITION
Many of the customers were clearly
shopping for knowhow. 'One of the
problems,' said Bernard Walschots of
financial markets research, 'is that so
much is still uncertain. What we know is
that the market will change, but all kinds
of related aspects and even basic aspects
remain undecided, such as exchange rates.
So even though we want to provide as
much information as we can to clients, it
tends to be hard to teil them hard facts.'
In that respect, the Euro remains an
imminent, but often frustrating major
issue that will require real input from the
various teams working on the transition
when these issues are resolved. In the
meantime, as Ger Gasseling of the Dutch
Mushroom Growers Cooperative
Association remarked, 'at least we have
the sense that Rabobank is trying to make
it all a lot easier for us.'
AFTELLEN E-DAY
BEGINT
De Rabobank bereidt niet
alleen de eigen overgangs
processen i.v.m. de Euro voor, maar draagt
ook oplossingen aan klanten. Het bedrijfs
leven moet klaar zijn voor elk mogelijk
scenario. Het eerste cliënten seminar over de
euro was alvast een groot succes, maar er is
nog veel werk aan de winkel.
It was definitely a success.
