m
Asiafiring on
all cylinders
M
BANK IN1 ACT LOC AL
Business Units of Rl
5 Regions with
regional
products:
fuiope _r
Netnerlands I
Amem-i'
5 Regions with
6 global
regional prod.
products/clients
Rabobank International's Asian operations
recorded their best year ever in 2007, repor-
ting record revenues of US$250 million for
the year, upfrom US$160 million in 2006.
Obviously this was not all down to the
launch of the matrix structure in late 2006,
says George Yau, CFO for the Asia Region.
"But one of the reasons revenues have
improved so significantly was due largely
to the kind of behaviourencouraged by
the matrix structure. The teamwork in Asia
has been amazing. Everybody is working
really hard to cross-sell as many products to
customers as possible." This starts from the
top with Regional General Manager, location
General Managers and Regional Product
Heads constantly communicating and in-
forming each other on market development;
customer intelligence on their banking
needs; strategie direction of growing the
Rabobank Asia franchise; Corporate Com-
munication; cross-sell opportunities etc. For
example, GFM cross-sell with Corporate Cli-
ents, especially Equity Derivatives and Fixed
Income structured products are very high in
Asia. Meanwhile, Equity Derivatives trading
has accounted for no less than US$71 million
last year and the trading business in Tokyo,
Hong Kong and mainland China is growing
apace. "We're firing on all cylinders in Asia
and riding the economie bloom well", Yau
says.
The matrix structure has certainly helped in
a period of rapid growth, he adds. Not only
does it encourage co-operation and cross-
selling, as product and country teams across
Asia share financial targets; it also provides a
very healthy system of checks and balances,
especially in the areas of accounting and
control, tax advisory, business support and
product control. And the success of the
matrix structure relies on effective Communi
cations, which amplifies good cooperation
and team work across all the parties involved.
George Yau
"On the one hand we've been getting a
lot of technical support from head office in
terms of IFRS accounting policy compli-
ance, capital, BIS 2 and RAROC embedding
needs while on the other hand we've been
able to enlighten head office on the Asian
markets and specialised products, local cul
tures and regulatory environment, because
we know the business out here really well
and it is very different to Europe. It's very
much two-way traffic."
Of course, even a year on it is still early days,
he adds, and roles and accountability still
need to be a little more clearly defined
globally and centrally if the bank is to avoid
any confusion. "We have to keep commu
nicating clearly what the matrix structure
entails and who is accountable, who is to be
informed and consulted. Refining the matrix
structure is already on the agenda, but we
do need to make sure we communicate
any changes clearly to everybody involved."
Meanwhile, Yau also pointed out that Asia
top management has already implemented
the Matrix model and a roadshow was
conducted earlier this year to all Asian offices
on how the Matrix should work in practice in
Asia. Saying that, the matrix really encourage
constant communication, teamwork and
professional behaviour both between Asia
and head office and between the various
country and product teams in the region
itself. 'That will be some of the keys to
making this work and will generate very
positive energy and consequences by bring-
ing the Matrix structure into the organi-
sation", Yau says.
34 ISSUE 16
THE WORD
