in briefs
Arnold moves to WOCCU
Environmental concern
DVD/Nedship launch new alliance
io What's NewS Issue 1 January/February 2000
Long-time Rabobank International se
nior manager and managing board
chairman R. Arthur Arnold has been ap-
pointcd chief executive officer of the
World Council of Credit Unions, effective
1 February 2000. Arnold joined
Rabobank from ABN-Amro, where he
built considerable experience at home and
internationally. He came to RI in 1992 as
deputy chairman of the International Di-
vision. When Rik van Slingelandt was ap-
pointed to the executive board, Arnold
took over. He was behind the introduction
of the Customer Focus Strategy back in
1996. In 1998, he was appointed to
strategie cooperation projects. Arnold's
new job with the WOCCU takes him to
the heart of the global cooperative move-
ment. Established in 1971, the WOCCU
Saying goodbye - Bert Steketee (left), Arthur
Arnold, Hans Smits and Mrs. Arnold at the
farewell reception
is an international umbrclla organization
representing the interests of both credit
unions and cooperative fïnancial institu-
tions. lts aim is to organize, expand, itn-
prove and integrate credit unions so that
they become effective instruments for
economie and social development. At a
farewell reception, Arnold reccived best
wishes from numerous forrner and current
colleagues. He told What's NewS that he
saw his role with the WOCCU as an ex-
citing new challenge.
In another step towards environmentally
sound policies, Rabobank Group has
joined the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD) from
1 January. Member companies engagc in
debatcs and discussions in an effort to ad-
dress the role which businesses and indus-
try can play in sustainable development.
Active participation in the WBCSD wili
help Rabobank better integrate environ
mentally sound practices into policy and
activities. Other member companies in-
clude General Motors, Sony, AT &T,
Proctor Gamble, Time Warner, Xerox
and Volkswagen. Hans Smits represents
the Group in the council of the WBCSD
and Bart Krouwel, head of sustainable de
velopment, acts as liaison delegate. The fï
nancial sector can play a kcy role in
changing the business sector into a sus
tainable society - this is why Rabobank's
entry into the organization is so impor
tant, argucs Krouwel. Rabobank Group's
entry into the WBSCD is the next step in
an active commitment to addressing and
improving environmentally ethica!
practices. In 1994, we signed the Interna
tional Chamber of Commerce's charter for
sustainable development. In an effort to
reduce energy consumption, Rabobank
signed a multi-year agreement with the
Dutch Ministry of Economie Affairs in
1996, and in May 1997 we becante the
First major Dutch bank to sign the
declaration of the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP) for banks
supporting environmental and sustainable
development.
Aftcr weeks of speculation in the press,
Deutsche Verkehrsbank (DVB) and
Nedship finally announced plans to join
forces just before the new year. DG Bank
owns a majority (65%) stake in DVB,
which lends to the transport industry.
DVB recently moved into the aviation and
ship Hnancing markets following its acqui-
sition of the Japanese Long-Terni Credit
Bank. The alliance with Nedship will
create a major new force in European ship
financc. Rotterdam based Nedship is one
of the world's top 10 financiers of the
shipping industry. For over a century, it
has built a strong market position and
currently employs 80 pcople. With assets
of around EUR 2.2 billion, a return on
equity of close to 12% and a cost-income
ratio of more than 32%, Nedship is an
attractive proposition for an already
significant player looking for growth.
The Deutsche Verkehrsbank
has the statcd aim of
becoming one of Europe's
largest financiers of aviation,
shipping and other transport
industries. DVB is acquiring
Nedship at a time when the
shipping business is recover-
ing front a long period of
over capacity and fierce
competition. 1'rices have
already started to improve,
albeit slowly. Forecasts
indicate that lending to the
shipping industry grew
by 13% in the first three
quarters of 1999. DVB
announced that in the same period,
total shipping related lending by them had
risen to DM 540 ntillion from DM 300
million in the first quarter. Nedship brings
Joining forces in European ship finance: Board members of
the Deutsche Verkehrs Bank, AG, K.W. Heineman, A. Heibel-
Dietrich, W.F. Driese and Rabobank Nederland's VZM. van den
Goorbergh and J.H. de Roo finalizing the alliance.
in a global lending portfolio of around
EUR 2.7 billion; DVB's own lending
of around EUR 1.65 billion is printarily
in aviation.
