F&A update
FAR team days
^Japan update
Individual commitment
Whdt sNewS Issue 10'October 1998
the organization of the London meeting
itself, which was dominated by volunteer
effort, confirms this view. Each MCT will
have a clearly identified coördinator, as
well as fixed members with strategie
stakes, whether for reasons of geography,
cliënt coverage, or product expertise. But
they will be inclusive as well: sporadic
membership will be encouraged whenever
particular business opportunities arise and
prospective participants can bring relevant
ideas, products or services to the table. In
short, the MCTs have been conceived and
designed as porous networks that will
change and adapt to their cross-border
European business environments.
^Ehe five European MCTs are scheduled to
^ather again by the end of November;
soon afterwards the meeting they will
come forward with concrete business
plans. But in a broader sense, the London
meeting - and with it the new MCT
concept - should be understood as the
harbinger of a fundamental shift in our
operating principle. It will bring a flatter
organizational network that vitally
depends on a spirit of individual
commitment and enterprise for it to
succeed. If we can cross institutional
bridges - open the door towards more
collaborative approach - we will add a
new dimension to our traditional ethos as
a cooperative bank.
Rabobank
Though still in the early stages,
business for our Tokyo team is
quickly taking shape. In operation as a
representative office since March, all
efforts are now concentrated on
obtaining a securities license - which is
expected to be granted by coming
November. Once given the go-ahead, the
Tokyo operation will initially kick off
under the name of Rabo Securities Asia
BV, Tokyo Branch. The intended product
range will include credit facilities - such
as asset trading and asset securitization,
as well as derivatives and credit notes.
The team will also be active in interest
rate products - including trading
Japanese government bonds (JGB), swaps
trading and non-standard options. The
^^third product line includes MM deposits
and loans, repo and FX forwards.
According to Nobuyuki Mokkoh, general
manager Tokyo, 'as soon as our rep
license was granted, together with global
The Tokyo team left to right back row: Mikio
Fuchiki, Frederik Hoek, Nobuyuki Mokkoh,
Satoshi Hayakawa, Jun Kawamura. Front row:
Mari Toda, Kyoko Kosugi, Monique Tanaka,
Junko Masaki, Tatsuya Hirashige
product managers, we got to work
drafting our ambitious business plan. So
far we have recruited 25 staff members.
Our aim is to bring that figure up to a 35-
strong team, 18 front office and 17 back
office staff. To date, back office is
working on procedures for operations,
credit, compliance and IT.
Together with London and Singapore
branches, our asset-trading desk has
already been active in an aircraft leasing
transaction. And front office is also
preparing necessary procedures while
drumming up business through
marketing calls to various prospects.'
Additionally, the team has also started
marketing Robeco products to potential
clients. Frederik Hoek, chief
representative says, we are now talking
to Norinchukin Bank, our cooperative
sister organization, and they have really
shown a lot of interest.' Following
presentations by a Robeco delegation,
the Tokyo team expect to see some
results soon. Our Tokyo office will be
moving into new premises by the end of
this month.
The contacts are: Rabobank Securities
Asia BV Tokyo Branch, Otemachi
Nomura Building 21st floor, 2-1-1
Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0004
Japan, telephone +81 3 3281 3301,
fax+81 3 3281 1581
Quality research
is of vital
importance to the
success of our
market profile as
knowledge-based
bank. This was
underscored by a
four-day workshop
for analysts
working in F&A
that was held last
month at the
Chateau Marquette
in Heemskerk, the
Netherlands. The
industry analysts
workshop drew some 42 F&A research
professionals, and the 'team days' that
followed drew 28. The event was
originally aimed at creating a bank-wide
methodology for strategie business and
project analysis. 'Research is of vital
importance to the bank and this meeting
sprang out of a realization that everyone
in our global network needs to share the
same analytical language. We also need to
project a recognizable brand identity
world-wide,' says FAR's head Frans van
Bijsterveld. 'Whether we issue a report or
make a presentation in China or New
York, we all have to be using the same set
F&A research professionals focusing on team work
of tools.' During the planning phase
leading up to the conference, however, it
also became clear that the FAR and APFT
teams were gearing up for several major
strategie industry presentations this
auturnn. The weekend agenda, designed
in conjunction with two noted industry
experts, professors Werner Kettelhöhn
and Eduardo Montiel, was duly modified
so that a four-day event could also
include a brainstorming session for the
specific presentations concerned. 'The
teamwork and integration during this
meeting were outstanding,' van
Bijsterveld says.
