regional focus
6 What'sNewS Issue 4 July/August 2001
models. But knowl-
edge-transfer
within the net-
work really
should be a
two-way street
- there's of
course a lot we
can learn from
others.
WNS: How and
Kong. If we can work together and
demonstrate to Telstra the expertise of the
Rabobank Group, there's potentially a
deal there. It's all about recognizing where
skills exist and leveraging that expertise.
And looking at how and why others are
successful and applying those solutions to
the local market needs. What shouldn't
happen is that everyone reinvents the
wheel over and over again.
WNS: Looking at the region's success so far,
>- them specialized reports on their indus-
try. They understand that we're commit-
ted to the food and agribusiness, and
deeply invested in it. That's an important
message to communicate because it's re
ally about our identity as RI.
WNS: How do you see your role in the RI net-
work?
BD: As 1 mentioned, we have a special
model here because of the combination of
retail and corporate banking activity.
There are opportunities to apply this
model, transfer our experience to other
parts of the world. In Chile, they're look
ing to expand into a retail farm banking
operation, and we've sent a staff member
there to head up credit operations to facil-
itate that transfer of know-how. Because
this market is different from those in Eu-
rope, Asia or the Americas, there are
unique lessons to be learned here. New
Zealand for example provides an opportu-
nity to witness some quite interesting
banking developments. It's a smaller mar
ket - if you want to try out something new
it's often easier to implement, and often
less regulated. You can create a kind of
"isolated environment" where you can
easily monitor the testing of new products.
A lot can be learned from smaller markets
- it's often in the least expected places
where you find the most interesting
where are you ex- how will you go forward from here?
tracting knowledge from
your colleagues?
BD: It's not so much
extracting as it is ex-
changing and leveraging.
There's a huge knowledge base within the
Group, and that's something that will a
ways be enhanced by dialogue between
the regions and head office, from
both RI and Rabobank Neder
land. We run a leasing division
in Australia - they do that busi
ness in RN branches as well, and
it's very customer-friendly and tech-
nology driven. In other words, just the
way we like to do things. Rather than sit-
ting here and trying to work out what to
do on our own, I'm sure if you put some-
one on a plane to the Netherlands it
would automatically transfer some knowl
edge, if only in terms of the intellectual
approach. It's a quick payback rather than
going through lengthy discussions with
vendors about how they might improve
our ability to service clients. In terms of
regional cooperation, there are also major
opportunities. We're just about 100%
F&A focused in Australia and New
Zealand, with very little TMI. That pres
ents an interesting opportunity. Telstra is
the leading Telecom company in Australia,
RI has a TMI expert sitting in Hong
BD: Let me point out that 2001 is shaping
up to be a very rewarding year. The first
months have been great - particu-
larly since we were hit with an
extra provision in regards to a
2000 account. To the credit of
the local people here, they have
responded to the challenge of
bridging the gap between the
original budget and having to deal
with an unexpected provision. We're
well on track to attain the annual budget
of 2001 - and that's our minimum goal.
Looking to the future, it is important that
we have an environment where people are
motivated and can enjoy success. People
respond to that. The major challenge is
building off those higher hills that we con
tinue to climb. If we continue to do what
we do best - offer knowledge-based, top-
quality products and services and really
focus on the human side of this business,
we'11 get where we need to go. My main
message is that what we're doing is about
people - it's people that matter, both in
terms of clients and employees. It's people
that do the business. If we continue to fo
cus on having the right people, dealing
with the right people, we'11 go forward.
The situation we must avoid is becoming
an impersonal bank. That's not who we
are, that's not what RI is all about.
>- continued from page 4
In total, some EUR 15 billion of loans has
heen securitized via synthetic structures
for solvency purposes. 'As we've ex-
plained, securitization can achieve regula-
tory capital relief for banks while provid-
ing a financing solution,' Cameron
explains. 'Banks often have access to com-
petitive funding sources - while they may
be attracted by the regulatory capital relief
offered by a securitization, they may have
no need for financing as it may not be
competitive vis a vis their alternatives.
This has led to the development of "syn
thetic" securitization. In these deals, credit
risk is transferred to a third party using
credit derivatives - and actual funds aren't
raised. This isn't dissimilar to insurance in
that the bank transfers risk to a third
party, retains the asset on its own balance
sheet, but in the event of a default on as-
sets the bank is reimbursed in cash for the
loss by the third party.'
For more Information on securitization in
Europe and the US, please contact Alan
Cameron or Eraj Asadi.
