contents
Putting the V into business
Rabobank
Group profits forcast at 15%
Opening bid
Connectingto the future
Straight talk
Food for thought
Deals
International
Whats Ne
atisfied Hans Smits presented our
Hrim figures to the press on
1 September, altbough he said tbat
furtber improvements in efficiency and
a better response to customer needs
were crucial if we are to sustain
growth. RI cante in for a well-deserved
pat on the back as Smits told the press
tbat our development is 'gratifying'.
Monthly newsletter for Rabobank International for internal use o
As teams of athlctes sporting Rabobank
colours head for Sydney with winning on
their rninds, our own RI teams are also
chasing liuge goals and ambitions.
Arouttd the network, groups of interna
tional Rabobankers are dedicated to
building the kind of e-commerce infra-
structure that will be indispensible for fu
ture success in the financial services mar-
ket. We talk to some of them about what
has been done, what still needs doing and
how we can achieve it page 4/9).
The future is something of a theme in this
issue. A new service has just been
launched to offer consultancy to partici-
pants in big-ticket auctions for licences.
These have become the norm in telecom
and are rapidly catching on clsewhere (see
page 3 for more info).
Genetic modification, with it potential im
pact on future generations, is another area
where Rabobank has been active recently.
As the first financial institution ever, the
Group has released a code of conduct. It
states where we stand on this burning is
sue. Other hot topics, such as the ongoing
merger into DGRI, are also on the
agenda. In a frank interview, Rik van Slin-
gelandt hammers home the multi-domes-
tic concept, arguing that it offers 'pcopk
the chance to be part of a first line bank in
Europe' (pages 10/11).
To finish, we have a round up of big deals
you're going to want to know about.
a new market - leveraging expertise with
auction consulting 3
an update on where we're beading in
the Age of the Internet 4-9
Rik van Slingelandt: goals, ambitions
and tboughts on bis new role 1 o-11
sparking discussions on genetic
modification 12
the latest results from bard working
teams around the network 13-14