Cbange is a continual
talking heads
Merger, integration, assimilation - ever since NDS chief Bram Kruimel joined
Rabobank straight from university back in the 1970s, these have been the key
words in Rabobank's ongoing evolution. When previewing a career that has
taken him into just about every department in the bank, it is hard to avoid a
sense of déja vu. Clearly, many of the discussions relevant today are anything
but new. As its organizer winds down after a successful RICO '98, we ask him
about RI's integratory tradition and the role NDS plays in the process.
i6 What'sNewS lssue7*July 1998
If you insisted on categorizing Bram
Kruimel, then it would have to be:
'generalist, although with some
specialization'. Mis role as head of NDS -
Network Development Support, 'it's a
hit of a mouthful, but then so is EN-DE-
ES,' he says with the typically deadpan
expression that hides a keen and very dry
sense of humour, means he has to be
many things. NDS - 'by the way, we don't
do IT' - means he has to be far-sighted,
patiënt, knowledgable Rabo all rolled into
one. It's not hard for him. 25 years with
the organization has made him used to
working in a continual climate of change.
Recruited straight from the Erasmus
University where he read monetary
economics, he worked his way through
the research department, ending his stint
there as head of the Dutch section. Given
his academie and farnily background - he
comes from a long line of doctors -
Rabobank appears rather an odd choice.
'I had absolutely no banking or agri-
experience. What attracted me was the
fact that this was a very special kind of
bank.' Part of his new joh involved giving
what we now call presentations, but what
were then known as lectures to groups of
local member banks. 'It was great fun.
Through the cooperative structure, you
became involved in issues no other
"ordinary" banker would ever come
across. But what made it so much fun was
the fact that whatever your topic, the
discussion always came down to one
thing: the interest rates local banks
received on the compulsory deposits held
by Rabobank Nederland.'
An opportunity to become involved in the
Dutch Central Bank's supervision of
Rabobank came next. 'At that time,
different types of banks were supervized
separately. That has changed now, of
course. But it offered a unique chance to
look at the bank from an outsider's
perspective.' Other things have also
changed in the meantinte. 'In the I970s
and 1980s, Rabobank was so solvent, so
liquid. Anything you proposed was
basically okay with the regulatory
authorities. Scarcity of solvency and ROS
- both big issues today - were not even
topics of conversation.'
Bram Kruimel
kruimel's ultimate role as supervisory
coördinator, reporting to the managing
board on regulatory policy led to a one-
year secondment as advisor to the
executive board - 'it was a very fancy title
for assistant to the then chairman, Pierre
Lardinois'. Rabobank's flamboyant
chairman was one of the motors behind
early internationalization and was also
involved in co-writing a book on
worldwide agricultural prospects. That
experience provided insight into global
F&A. 'After that year, I moved over to
bond trading.' From that moment on, in
1986, Kruimel has been involved in an
accelerated process of change within what
would become Rabobank International.
'I'd always wanted to move over to the
commercial side, but almost as soon as I
started as a bond trader, a huge project
was launched to centralize trading in
Utrecht,' he recalls. 'Centralizing' is rather
misleading here. 'The people who handled
our trading were still working the
exchange floor in Amsterdam. It was a
difficult move for thern to make and for a
time we actually had two dealing rooms
in Utrecht - one for forex, the other for
institutional business.' These would
ultimately merge to form the basis of the
financial markets division, but the
assimilation and integration process was
pretty traumatic. According to Kruimel,
the questions and debates then were
pretty much the santé as those current
today. 'Issues like: what does Rabobank
really, really want? How do we organize
the trading and the sales side? What about
the back office and its capabilities. And
what about reporting?'
Asked how he handles criticisnt of
existing structures - many of which he
was instrumental in building during his
time in treasury management, from new
people coming in, he shrugs in his
apparently stoical fashion. 'Did you ever
know a new guy to come in and say:
"Wow, that's perfect, 1 don't need to
change a thing"? Basically, what you've
got to understand is that people do things
based on the knowledge they have at that
time. In hindsight, it's easy to say: we
should have done it this way, or that way.
I do it rnyself. We had to develop many
things on our own - there were no
seminars. We had to build our own
inhouse knowledge, also through
recruiting top people. It's part of the fun
in this organization, part of the
continuing fascination.'
Bram Kruimel has typically moved from
discipline to discipline throughout his
time at the bank. In 1996, the former
Foreign Offices Department needed a new
head to engineer its transition into
Network Development Support. It is a
role that suits him. His own experience is
eclectic and that is reflected in the team he
has built around him. 'The kind of
support we provide to the network
depends on a variety of factors,' he says.
'In fact, it's cyclical. In the beginning, they
need you a lot. That requirement declines
over time. Then you have a secondary
growth phase when we're needed again.
Basically, the network is in a constant
state of change, development, growth -
whether it is in Utrecht, London,
Singapore or a start-up operation in a new
country.' Change, it appears, is a fact of
life; the art is to enjoy it.
