regional focus
All systems go
Top targets
Star in the making
Upgrading for the future
Servicing strategy in Dublin
Fancy footwork
8 What'sNewS Issue 1 January/February 2001
»- particularly in corporate fi-
nance and M&A, but we know
who we want to work with and
where we want to go. Reducing
our (albeit small) non-core cliënt
base in areas such as health care
is one element. But increasing
market share is another. And the
team we have now, talented,
committed senior relationship
managers, is set to do just that.
It's a small team - we're just
about 20 - that is very much
P&L oriented. They know their
market, they know their clients, they
know the products.' The closing of the
Barcelona office in late November is an
other aspect of the client-focus. 'When RI
came to Spain, it was necessary to have an
office servicing Catalan clients. But that
need is no more. Today, our clients are
bigger and more national than regional.
Madrid today is Spain's central financial
market.'
The Madrid team will certainly be put to
the test in light of their 2001 goals. Partic-
ular attention will be given to developing
products with non-solvency requirements
(FARM, Forex), as will matching, and sur-
passing the successes of 2000. 'Given the
issue of solvency reduction, we're keeping
our fingers-crossed,' says Gomez-Arroyo.
It will certainly be a challenge to make this
year even better than the last, but Madrid
seems to be well on its way to getting
exactly what it wants.
In Poland, as in much of
central and eastern Eu-
rope, strategy has cen-
tered on streamlining ac~
tivities and improving
efficiency in operations.
For our five-year old
Warsaw office, 2000 has
been about redirecting its
operations. Trade serv
ices (Letters of Credit, guarantees, collec-
tions, etc) have been phased out, and in-
vestments in the area of payments have
been reduced. A major shift in cliënt focus
has occured as well. '2000 was about fo
cusing on big clients,' explains Ronald
Blok, Poland's GM. 'We've set higher tar
gets as far as who we want our clients to
be. This means reducing our previous
cliënt base from 200 to 80, and phasing
out retail-based relationships. And there
are still others that need to end. This al-
lows us to shift toward tailor-made solu-
tions for specific clients instead of offering
more routine, Standard products.' Efforts
have proved successful, with a handful of
big transactions in 2000, driving Warsaw's
annual revenues 30% over last year's in-
come. At the same time staff decreased by
20 and costs were frozen.
Topping the charts was a joint RI Dallas-
Warsaw initiative whereby Warsaw has
become lead-manager of a USD 100 mil-
lion syndicated loan for one of the largest
Polish (US owned) F&A companies. The
transaction has made headlines, bringing
RI into the spotlight in the Polish market.
'The potential in the F&A business in
Poland is really quite immense,' explains
Blok. 'Once Poland joins the EU, it will
become one of the largest F&A markets in
Europe. And with the economy back on
track after feeling the pressure of the Russ-
ian crisis, there's a lot of new opportuni-
ties coming our way. In light of our activi-
ties in 2000, our position in the market
continues to strengthen.'
Blok expects to see even more profits in
2001, setting targets such as 15 to 20%
ROS by year's end. Adding fuel to the fire,
Poland has just received approval to up
grade its 'old-fashioned' back-office sys
tems to the Flex Cube system, a change
that will improve efficiency and cut costs.
'These developments are key to our busi
ness in Poland,' says Blok, 'and it's not
just a matter of reducing our cost-base.
Given our focus on large corporates, and
the fact that the business opportunities are
increasing so rapidly in view of Poland's
EU accession, we need to ensure we're of
fering professional, best-in-class service
for clients.'
Springing from a joint European regional
management, global operations and con-
trol RI initiative, Rabobank Ireland plc
has successfully launched a new European
Regional Service Centre in Dublin. A new
branch of RI formed alongside Rabobank
Ireland plc, the Service Centre will take on
cross-border business for European of
fices. By providing centralized credit, ad-
min, settlement and risk management on a
consistent basis, the Centre ensures cross
border transactions are managed transpar-
ently and efficiently.
Faced with a tight deadline to take over
the offshore loan portfolio booked in
Hamburg, an international implementa-
tion team from Ireland, Istanbul, Utrecht
and London began intense work in Octo-
ber to set up the branch and transfer
transactions by 15 December, 2000. The
deadline was met - a remarkable
Taking the team approach: Dublin's committed and dedicated Project Team.
In the front row, (left) Miriam Quealy (financial controller), Fergus Murphy (managing director),
Elizabeth Mansfield (head ofGFM operations). Standing in the back are (left) Paul Whooley (head
of banking MT member), Colm Feehan (head ofIT facilities), Nigel McDonagh (head oflegal
and compliance), Cian Dooley (senior manager international banking), Peter Duncan (head of
credit), Malachy Taaffe (treasurer/ MT member), Sarah Breslin (middle office supervisor), and
Adrian Whiteman (CAO/ MT member)
Blok: 'We're targeting the
big clients in the market.'
