Business as usual
stmtegy organization
Capital ideas
Moving in Europe
It seems a long time ago since the results of the Strategie Review
Team (SRT) were announced in late September. So much has happened
in the meantime. But even though everyone is eager to know what
the merger of Rl with DG Bank's international operations will mean
for them, we are still in the process of implementing the strategie
review findings. In fact, according to newly appointed managing
board chairman, Ton Toebosch, we have reaffirmed our F&A focus and
it is very much 'business as usual' for the foreseeable future.
This is why we have put together an
overview of the strategy results for
you, showing how our energies and
resources should be concentrated in seven
areas of activity and autonomous profit
centres, with our product specialists
providing expertise around the network
through so-called service level
agreements.The seven areas include three
F&A regions which are AsiaPacific, Europe
and the US, as well as Rabobank
International Capital Markets (RICM),
Rabobank International Treasury Markets
(RITM), and service to our international
corporate clients through our structured
finance people, M&A and Equities,
including Rabo Securities. Focus is the
recurring theme in the overall picture,
with the responsibility for implementation
of all activities delegated to the new
heads of our seven business units
(including the three F&A regions).
Jonathan Laredo has very dear
ideas on what the future of inter-
business unit cooperation holds.
We ask for an overview.
Purchasing talent
What's NewS Issue 9 October/November 1999
How do you plan to organize product delivery
capacity?
From the capital markets side, we'll deal
with F&A business units through two
groups - the FARM group, which is really
there to provide soft commodity expertise,
principally pricing and some structuring
and distribution. It is run by Nigel A
Labram, but its costs and revenues will lx™
transferred to the F&A business units.
What we're doing currently is setting up
the MIS so that we can provide weekly
and quarterly reports on what is going on
and net revenue information to Henri,
Reinier and Hanno. This will be a novel
situation in that Nigel's people, who actu-
ally work for me, will sit next to various
trading desks but will behave as if they
are implants from the F&A organization.
You mentioned two groups
The second group is what I call origina-
tion, but I suppose it is probably more
easily seen as product specialism. Each of
the regions will have two or three
Rabobank France's Henri Jacquand has
the rask of turning RI into Europe's
F&A bank. Asked where he plans to start,
he says: 'First, you have to keep things
simple. The initial step is to define those
places where we don't have a clear F&A
image. We will have to make every effort
in building that image very quickly. In
some cases that will mean recruiting one
or more senior bankers from the F&A
world - not necessarily a financial person,
but rather people whose recruitment will
send a clear message to that country's in-
dustry. Another priority is defining those
clients we want in our list because they
need and are willing to pay for the strate
gie, growth-oriented services and products
we can provide. In finalizing this list,
meeting a number of objectives will lniild
self confidence. There are places where we
are very confident and they are ready to
go. There are places where it still has to
be built and we'll do that through goals
which are adapted to the local situation.'
Building the F&A image is key for the Eu-
rope region, and Jacquand depends on
other business units to provide certain
products and
services. Spe
cialists in
RICM,
RITM and
Structuring
have the an-
swers, he
says. 'We
probably do
not have to add to the existing cadre of
product specialists. Many of them are al-
ready part of the local organizations, oth-
ers can fly in from London or Utrecht. As
for the service level agreements, I think
the easiest way to look at it is: what do
you need to execute a mandate? You raise
your hand and you say: to get the job
done, I need this type of help. This is the
way we want to work, for example, with
FARM. The way we are trying to build
our budget is a reflection of how we
would like to operate, so we could say in
F&A Europe's budget: let's plan to use
150 days of FARM expertise to help us
execute our deals. I would then go to
Jonathan (Laredo) and say: we need you
to build a skills base able to deliver 150
days of talent to F&A Europe. You know,
there are plenty of places within the bank
where we have expertise. In fact, I'd like
to operate with FAR in the same way.
There is no lack of talent in this organiza
tion. But I think we all need to be in a
supplier/eustomer relationship. That is
what we'll be aiming for in Europe.'
