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

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blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1998 | | pagina 1