Profile of Rabobank
Group
Rabobank Group is a financial services provider
operating on the basis of cooperative principles,
while offering an extensive range of financial
services and products. Its origins are in the local
loan cooperatives that were founded in the
Netherlands more than a century ago by enter
prising people who had virtually no access to the
capital market. The local Rabobanks that evolved
from this have a long tradition in the agricultural
sector and in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Ambition
6 Rabobank Group Annual Report 2004
Profile of Rabobank Group
The Rabobank Group comprises 288 independent local cooperative
Rabobanks in the Netherlands plus their central organisation Rabobank
Nederland and its domestic and international subsidiaries. Rabobank
serves more than 9 million private individuals and corporate clients in
the Netherlands and a growing number abroad. It employs 56,324 staff
and is represented in 37 countries.
The Rabobank Group has the highest credit rating (Triple A), awarded
by the well-known international rating agencies Moody's and Standard
Poor's. In terms of Tier I capital, the organisation is among the world's
fifteen largest financial institutions.
The local Rabobanks and their clients form Rabobank Group's coopera
tive core business. The banks are members and shareholders of the
supralocal cooperative organisation, Rabobank Nederland, which
advises and supports the banks in providing local services. Rabobank
Nederland further acts as an (international) wholesale bank and as a
bankers' bank to the Group and is the holding company of a large
number of specialised subsidiaries.
Rabobank Group combines the best of two worlds: the local involve
ment and personal touch of the local Rabobanks with the expertise and
economies of scale of Rabobank Nederland and its subsidiaries.
Rabobank Group's ambition is to be the largest, best and most innovative
all-finance service provider in the Netherlands. With their cooperative
structure and a current membership of almost 1.5 million, the local
Rabobanks are firmly rooted in society. In the Netherlands, Rabobank
may justifiably call itself committed, near-you and a leader.
In the international environment, Rabobank Group's ambition is to be
the best food agri bank, with a strong presence in the world's major
food agriculture countries. For this purpose, the Group will use the
experience it has accumulated in the Netherlands over many years.
In addition, the Group wishes to excel in sustainable entrepreneurship
and banking throughout the world, as would befit its identity and posi
tion in society. In the years ahead, Rabobank Group will further integrate
corporate social responsibility in its core activities.
Our values
Rabobank Group offers all the financial services needed by clients as they
participate in an economy-driven modern society. The Group strives to
ensure that its services are continually adjusted and updated so that
they always meet the needs of both private individuals and businesses.
We believe that sustainable growth in prosperity and well being requires
careful nurturing of natural resources and the living environment.
We aim to contribute to this development with our activities. We respect
the culture and traditions of the countries where we operate, insofar as
these do not conflict with our own objectives and values.
In all our actions, we focus on our clients' best interests. We create
customer value by:
providing those financial services considered best and most
appropriate by our clients;
ensuring continuity in the services provided with a view to the
long-term interests of the client;
showing commitment to our clients and their environment, so that
we can contribute to achieving their ambitions.
