8
france
WHAT'S NewS Issue 6 June 1997
Sitting: Vincent Granados - Corporate Banking Structured
Finance Department Manager and standing from left to rigbt: Elvira
Henrique - Secretary, Josiane Gustave - Secretary and receptionist,
Brice Anger - Account Officer Media and Telecommunication.
world,' Bernaille continues.
'And we are the only dedicated
international F&A bank
operating in this market -
although they acquired
IndoSuez last year, Crédit
Agricole is still not considered a
global player. So we clearly
have expertise and know-how
to offer. 'This offering is
enhanced by a growing
perception of RI as a single
network whose skills and
expertise are available to all
offices, Paris included. 'The
international network card is
an asset in France,' says
Bernaille. 'We can offer them a
range of opportunities, such as
M&A in foreign countries.
That is clearly an advantage
and so is the Triple-A rating. In
fact, considering how difficult
this market is, we make
considerable demands on our
customers that are not imposed
by the competition. For
example, we are perceived as
very conservative. We demand
collateral for loans. Often, we
agree to only three, four or five
years, whereas the competition
offer well over ten. Yet, we are
increasingly winning deals - I
think the efficiency of our
treasury is a factor, and the fact
that we can offer all kinds of
sophisticated products through
the network.'
NEAT DEALS
Paris is justifiably enthusiastic
about its run of successful
deals, which include a neat EU-
related innovative structure for
Martinique-based banana
company Cobamar which they
hope will get deal of the month
next issue. Another is a sweet
deal involving a sophisticated
swap structure for the French
railways described by
corporate banker Vincent
Granados as 'interesting in
terms of revenue, not only for
RI Paris, but also for RI
Utrecht who managed the
treasury exposure'. And then
there was the deal that every
bank in French capital said
Rabobank Paris was too small
to handle, but they managed to
secure a place in the
issue/privatization of a state-
owned company for Rabo
Securities. Hans van
Griethuysen picks up the story:
'We mobilized every advantage
we had, one being the senior
executives in Utrecht. It turned
out that when we needed them,
they were more than willing to
come down and help us
impress the cliënt. Now,
besides Rabo Securities, M&A
and investment banking are
also involved - that's what
we call relationship
development.'
COOPERATIVE KNOW
HOW
What makes the front-office
teams even more enthusiastic is
the realization that the
Rabobank Paris is now being
pursued by a certain type of
quality cliënt. 'I'm not
exaggerating,' says Van
Griethuysen, 'the French
Railways and the top end of
French industry have become
very interested in us, especially
in long-term transactions,
swaps, that kind of investment
banking product. I think you
could say we are making a
mark here. Then there is the
deal we did with the central
organization of a group of agri-
cooperatives. This is a capital
market instrument we
guarantee, so it's a credit
enhancement scheme. We
proved we understand
cooperatives. We know their
decision-making processes take
a little longer. And we don't get
excited about that. So we offer
them a special product and our
special know-how was extra
added value for them. We have
to build more of these
specialities, and that means you
have to be prepared to work
closely with London, with
Utrecht, with anywhere and
everywhere in the world that
might have something special
we can offer to our clients
here.'
MORE COMPLEX
Investment banking is clearly an
important element in Paris
branch, and equally clearly a lot
is expected from the team
which appears more than
capahle of coming up with
products that appeal to
customers. That day, the
dealing room was buzzing
because the French elections
have brought home a socialist
victory and the markets were
turbulent because of
speculation on the Euro. But
treasury manager Denis
McHugh, who transferred from
Utrecht six months ago,
appeared unfazed, even when
asked about what will happen
to the branch's very lucrative
forex trading after the
transition. 'We're working very
hard to change the forex
orientation,' he says. 'At
present, we see it as an entry
Some of the Treasury Department, from left to right:
Marwan El Khoury - Foreign Exchange Spot Desk, Laurent Estachy
- Corporate Desk, Pierre Fleros - Foreign Exchange Spot Desk, Aase
Hansen-Love - Senior dealer. Gilles Borrel - Corporate Desk,
Stéphane Pointout - Foreign Deposits, Thierry Lacorre - Senior
dealer, Jean-Paul Bezinian - Futures, Margaret Peyrard - Corporate
Desk (sitting) and Flarald de Peyrelonque - Assistant Middle-Office.
Parijs heeft de laatste tijd een aantal opvallende, innovatieve deals gemaakt, onder meer met de bananenondememing Cobamar
in Martinique en met de Franse spoorwegen. De top van de Franse industrie én de Franse spoorwegen zijn bijzonder
geïnteresseerd geraakt in de Rabobank, vooral als het gaat om producten als lange termijn transacties en swaps.
