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Mutual investment
It's the highlight of the cooperative year in the Netherlands.
Rabobank's general assembly could easily have become
little more than an opportunity for a party. But this is still
the cooperative organization's parliament. This is still
where representatives of our 'shareholders' - the member
banks - gather annually to define the organization's future.
How is our organization organized? Here's a roundup.
Redesigning the board - Hans Smits speaking
to the general assembly
rarely the same people who wil! also exe-
cute policies - that's wliat makes
Rabobank different.
Unlike non-cooperatives, Rabobank has
limited options for raising capital. Just be-
Each member bank has a board. It is
elected by 'members' of the coopera
tive - until recently, membership rules
were quite rigid, now they have become
more flexible. The board comprises people
who live and work in the local community
Community focus: a member bank in Haftum
where the member bank
operates.
The country is divided
into 20 regions and each
has its own delegates' as
sembly, similar to the
general meeting, but fo
cusing primarily on issues
relating to the member banks it repre-
sents. In turn, each region elects a six-per-
son team to represent it in the central del
egates' assembly. This body scrutinizes
policy and strategy formulated by the ex-
ecutive board. If it doesn't like what it
sees, then it sends it back for revision.
The general assembly brings together rep
resentatives from all these boards. It is
anything but a rubber-stamp, although as
you listen to rapid readings of resolutions,
you could be forgiven for thinking people
were simply going through the motions.
In fact, even though this meeting is often
compared to a regular shareholders' meet
ing, it is much more. Shareholders are
Delegates networking over lunch
fore the general assemhly, however, an in
strument was launched for member banks
and their members and staff which will
offer attractive yields at low risk. The so-
called member certificates generated
around EUR 1 billion at a launch price of
EUR 25. And interest in the opportunity
is growing - within two months 40,000
new members joined, bringing the total
from 510,000 at the beginning of May to
550,000 by the end of June. Rabobank
hopes to increase this number to 1 million
by 2003. Unfortunately, this offer is lim
ited to personnel in the Netherlands.
