RABOBANK AND IFC COMMIT TO SUSTAINABLE BANKING MONSANTO DEAL im ine Americas MONSANTO As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainable banking, Rabobank has signed a Letter of Understanding with the Inter national Finance Corporation (IFC) to form a partnership within the F&A sector. "Feeding the world will require new invest- ment in farming methods, technologies, and dissemination of information. We need investment in infrastructure to reduce the incredible amount of food that is wasted. We need better insurance products to help farmers. We can provide that financing and encourage others to invest," said IFC Chairman LarsThunell. MrThunell continues "Rabobank's commit ment to sustainable development makes it a natural partner for IFC and it reflects its history and structure as a cooperative bank. The financial crisis reminded us that the Wall Street model is not the only one. Cooperatives and mutual companies can play a very important role in the developing world, just as they have in the developed world." According to Rabobank Chairman Piet Moerland, cooperative banks are by no means immune to the recent financial turmoil, Rabobank included. Although he believes the cooperative banking system has proven its resilience by withstanding a tough test. 'The cooperative banking model is viable with a promising future relevant to both developed and emer- ging countries," he said. Mr Thunell, meanwhile, believes that "We are all under increased scrutiny for the environmental and social performance of our investments. Society is demanding sustainability. The marketplace is demanding confidence on whether food is safe and was not produced at the expense of a rainforest or a group of indigenous people." The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and promotes sustainable private sector development in developing countries. In August 2009, Rabo AgriFinance agreed a USD 500 million vendor financing deal with Monsanto, the seed and agri- cultural chemical giant. Under the deal, Rabobank's US agri- fïnancing arm allocated USD 500 million to provide farmers with the financing to purchase Monsanto seeds. Rabo AgriFinance president and CEO John Ryan says Mon santo approached the bank with the idea of taking over the financing that Monsanto had been providing itself. "Monsanto doesn't see vendor financing as part of its core business. It's a seed company, not a bank. So they asked us if we were interested in helping to finance the seed buying of their producers." "Monsanto is the biggest seed company in the world. This not only gives us the opportunity to finance their seed buying, it's also a chance to explore the other financial needs of those producers. Those could be anything from erop insurance to real estate financing, or operating capital over and above the capital required to buy Monsanto's seeds. Basically, it gives us access to a whole new range of agricultural producers." "In addition," says John Church, Rl global Relationship Manager for Monsanto, "this transaction complements the expansion of our global relationship, and positions Rabobank well for further business opportunities with Monsanto." Soon after completing the vendor finance deal, Rabo Agri Finance was invited to speak at Monsanto's sustainability conference, which was attended by their top 50 producer cus- tomers. Ryan adds, "It was a perfect opportunity for us to teil producers about Rabobank in general and Rabo AgriFinance's role in financing the corn, soy bean and cotton industries in particular. I'm confident it will enable us to build relationships with producers we would not have had access to otherwise." LarsThunell and Rabobank Chairman Moerland issue 22 jai THE WORD

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

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