Targeting European F&A
in the news contents
Rabobank
Monthly newsletter for Rabobank International fof intCtnol US6 Oflly Issue 8 August 1998
International
Wh at 's happening in
the network
What's NewS has the
scoop this August
What'sNewS
There can be no doubt, the birth of the
euro - and subsequent Euroland -
is imminent, a fact RI is only too aware
of. This coupled to our growing
international network makes it more
important than ever to approach the
market in a cross-border fashion. At least
that is the thinking behind the F&A
meeting held in Frankfurt early July.
total of 15 heads of European corporate
Panking came together to thrash out a
priority list of F&A and related industries
to target. Sectors identified included food
retailing, food processing, beverages,
dairy and fresh produce.
According to F&A's global business
manager Peter Greenberg, 'the July
meeting was preliminary and from now
on we'11 be moving at a brisk pace to
Banking brains - kicking up an F&A storm
follow it up.' The group met again in
early August. 'The aim was to reexamine
the sectors identified and to prioritize
actions for the teams,' Greenberg
continues. 'This will be followed by a
European F&A account managers
meeting in September to energize the
cross-border cooperation.'
Ambitious move
Hot off the press in this issue
is our newly released RI
ambition statement, a
document that condenses the
fessenrial clements of our
Customer focus strategy,
enunciates our core values,
and provides a touchstone for
our continuing global
development, whether it
involves buying another
financial institution, setting up
a new branch, or moving into
a fresh business activity.
As the statement notes, our
primary aim as an
internationally oriented
cooperative bank 'is the
creation of customer value.'
See page 6 for more details.
Achmea announcement
Last month brought a far-
reaching announcement about
Rabobank Nederland's two-
stage strategie merger with
Achmea, a leading rival on
the Dutch financial services
industry. This word comes at
a time when the balance of
power in this business is
rapidly changing and creating
not only new opportunities
but also new pressures to
operate in a more cost-
efficient and innovative way.
Explaining the deal,
chairman Herman Wijffels
said: 'we want to combine
our cooperative strengths in
order to offer customers all
financial services they need
through all possible
distribution channels.'
Achmea's chairman Gijs
Swalef added: 'we see the
proposed merger as an
important and necessary
strengthening of our position,
both nationally and
internationally,' and noted
'we will be in an even better
position to provide our broad
customer base with appro-
priate services in the future.'
See page 5 for facts and
implications of the deal.
Moscow start-up
Slowly but surely, RI is
building its structural
framework for further
development in the Russian
market. After a successful start
with a rep office in 1997, we
have subsequently established
a so-called financial company.
Rabo Invest's activities will
allow us to bring our F&A
expertise to this potentially
strong market while we wait
for a full commercial banking
licence. Activities will include
corporate and investment
banking services and trade and
export finance. But the start-
up team of just over 20 will
also be focusing on developing
tailored solutions involving all
our areas of expertise.
Working relations - Wrigley
chewing on Poland 3
Millennium bug - a report
on our credit risk roadmap 4
The EU challenge - working
on the Euro 8
Global and local - looking after
the home front 10
Talking heads - Niek Streefkerk
on teamwork 12
