RABOBANK
RI-NAW OFFSITE LAUNCHES
INNOVATION INITIATIVE
RECEIVES BANKING
LICENCE IN INDIA
Americas
Rabobank recently received approval from
the Reserve Bank of India to establish a
banking presence in India, which will allow
it to substantially expand its current range
of services in the Indian market. Rabobank
intends to open its first bank branch in
Mumbai. Rabobank India General Manager,
Surojit Shome, said: "We are delighted to have
received a licence to open our first branch in
India, and we are looking forward to being
able to offer a broader range of products and
services to our domestic and international
clients." The licence will allow Rabobank in
India to accept deposits and use its balance
sheet to provide working capital financing
to clients. Additionally, the bank will be able
to deal in foreign exchange, domestic fixed
income products and trade finance.
Rabobank is currently present in India through
a wholly owned subsidiary, Rabo India Finance
(RIF). Established in 1998, RIF provides custo-
mised solutions in core competencies such
as Corporate Finance, Mergers Acquisition,
Equity Corporate Advisory, Renewable
Energy Infrastructure Finance, Food Agri-
business Research Advisory services.
At the beginning of 2011, managers from Rabobank
International-North America Wholesale (RI-NAW) held an
offsite to discuss the concept of innovation in RI-NAW's
cliënt and market franchise. The meeting kicked offa
new strategie initiative, titled the Team Innovation Labo-
ratory (TIL). The purpose of the TIL is to recognise, foster,
and replicate innovative ideas that will benefit RI-NAW's
clients and business performance, as well as Rl globally.
The offsite focused on defining what innovation means
for RI-NAW and what the business wants to achieve by
way of innovation. For instance, innovation can mean
the development of new products and cliënt services,
new or bespoke loan or transaction structures, improve-
ments in RI-NAW's processes and approach that yield
speed or efficiency, or collection of key market intel-
ligence. A key theme of the meeting was the equal merit
of Innovation (big I), i.e., the creation or development of a
solution that Rabobank can sell to clients, and innova
tion (little i), such as new tactics or better procedures that
help the business to improve its approach or overcome
hurdles. The group cited numerous examples of Innova
tion and innovation that have already been realised in
the franchise; one significant and timely example is the
recent franchise loan securitisation facility for Jack in the
Box. The offsite combined presentations that showcased
examples of innovation by various Rabobank business
areas, breakout discussions to identify and SWOT Rabo-
bank's Innovation, innovation, and replication capabili-
ties; and audience surveys to gauge instant feedback to
key questions.
TIL will be officially launched in RI-NAW in the near
future, but the expectation is that the programme will
be a work in progress for some time, with improvements
and tweaks implemented as the business identifies ways
to strengthen and improve the TIL initiative.
ISSUE 27 MAY 7(111 RI WORLD
