network efficiency
rations
Amid all of the structural and strategie adaptations now underway, business
continues apace and recent weeks have brought a number of improvements
within administration (operations and IT). What's NewS takes a look into the
latest changes and IT system developments.
Processenhancement
Network upgrades
Managing down
Regionalization project
First step
Efficiënt function
First, the operations performance in all
branches has improved significantly. In
Utrecht, the derivatives team contributed
enormously to the LTIR swap book move
front London to Utrecht. The transfer of
all the related security positions front
RNSS to Rl/Utrecht enables an optimized
controlled environment. The Forex and
Money Market l.oans operations team
have made significant progress in upgrad
ing their systems and processes, reducing
the operational risk commonly associated
with this business line to a great extent.
l ondon, meanwhile, closed out its meet
ing with external auditors, Ernst
Young, who were very positive about the
significant improvements in operational
efficiency in the past year. The Middle Of
fice completed a number of initiatives
aimed at enhancing their existing
processes, such as the automation of deal
confirmations, and the automation of
front to back Money Market reconcilia-
tion between the Kondor+ and Atlas sys
tems. Hrankfurt's project to transfer GED
Administration to Rabo Securities pro-
ceeded on schedule and Warsaw has im
proved its reporting functions.
hl the Antericas, New York has completed
a number of initiatives which include the
transfer of the Syndications Middle Office
support team from structured finance to
GEM operations, the establishment of the
Nieuw Amsterdam Receivables Corpora
tion, and the implementation of SWIFT
confirmations for branch Money Market
trades. Finally, in Southeast Asia, the US
dollar clearing activities migrated from
Bankers Trust NY to the Bank of New
York (BONY), which will have the effect
of reducing transaction fees and making it
possible to more efficiently manage and
control cash flows. Singapore has made
progress in its effort to collect cliënt de-
posirs under a restricted banking license
that takes effect this October, while in
Fokyo, the granting of a banking license
will open the door for implementation of
SWIFT.
All of our offices throughout the R1 global
network have been able to manage down
their respective control exceptions, with
the result that we have lower aged nostro
items (or reconciliation irregularities), sus
pense items, and outstanding interest
claims.
On the Administration side - which in-
cludes GFM Ops, IT Development, IT In-
frastructure, and Payment Services - there
has been important progress in the Re
gionalization project for the Antericas. All
offices are to be served from the same pro
duction and General Ledger systems from
a central location in New Jersey. This will
make it possible for the Americas region
to upgrade all hardware and software
through a single set of tests, rather than
implementing changes separately for each
individual location. The ultimate goal of
the project is to ensure that all reports are
derived from the same system, eliminating
hundreds of inefficiënt ntanhours now
spent manually creating these reports.
Functional and technical team members
from both North and South America are
performing tests and preparing for the
coming conversion for Rabobank Cu-
ra^ao, set for late May. New York's Pro
ject manager Anna Trost is coordinating
the conversion of Olympic, Curagao's cur
rent system, to IBS and Peoplesoft, the
production and general ledger systems op
erating in New York. Says Jaap Klep,
General manager of Rabobank Cura^ao,
'by implementing a system that has al-
ready proven successful in New York, we
will intprove our service level and take a
stride toward a common regional plat
form. The goal is to bring all l atin Ameri
can offices onto the same platform.'
Also on the Administration side, we have
seen the formation of a new line function,
the Program Office for Administration
(located in Utrecht), which is a joint activ
ity of London and Utrecht to support
both Project and Business Ghange Man
agement. It supports in the monitoring
and control of programs and projects, as
well as underpinning a successful delivery
process. All departments and branches
within Administration can use the Pro
gram Office for support of programs, pro
ject monitoring and control, and the Busi
ness Change Management process.
Ifyou would like to receive NewS Flashes
about Global Administrationplease con
tact Hanka Wessels by e-mail or phone:
+31 30 216 2083
What's NewS Issue 3 April/May
