Our values
Rabobank Group's cooperative roots
Members make the difference
In the Netherlands, Rabobank Group offers all the financial services needed by clients as they
participate in an economy-driven modern society. Rabobank Group strives to ensure that its
services are continually adjusted and updated so that they always meet the needs of private
individuals and businesses alike. Rabobank believes that sustainable growth in prosperity
and well-being requires careful nurturing of natural resources and the living environment
and it aims to contribute to this with its activities. Rabobank respects the culture and
traditions of the countries where it operates without losing sight of its own objectives and
values. Rabobank Group's desired profile in the world is defined by four core values that are
derived from its mission and ambition. All member entities of Rabobank Group have
endorsed these business principles. In a way, they are the preconditions for our actions:
- Respect: Rabobank Group works with others on a basis of respect, appreciation
and commitment.
- Integrity: Rabobank Group aims to be fair, honest, careful and reliable in all its actions.
- Professionalism: Rabobank Group serves its clients with high-quality knowledge facilities.
It strives to maintain that high quality - anticipating where possible on clients' future
needs - and to offer its services in an efficient manner.
- Sustainability: Rabobank Group aims to contribute to sustainable development, both
economically, socially and ecologically, of society.
Rabobank Group's origins are in the local loan cooperatives that were established in the
Netherlands over a century ago by enterprising people with almost no access to external
financing after Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen's example in Germany. These cooperative banks
collected the savings from the rural population and used them to fill the need for loans.
At first, they operated separately, as Raiffeisenbank and Boerenleenbank, and after their
merger in 1972 together as Rabobank. The resulting local Rabobanks have a long tradition,
especially in the agricultural sector en in small and medium-sized enterprises. In all those
years, its cooperative structure and strong local ties have been its main characteristics.
Although idealistic motives drove the establishment of the first cooperative banks, realism
characterised their way of working. This appears from the important business principles of
the first cooperative banks: unlimited liability of its members; unsalaried management;
adding profits to reserves for further growth; a limited local operating area and membership
of a cooperative central bank while retaining local independence. The business elements
behind the idealistic framework have been key to the successful development of the
agricultural loan banks.
Collaboration is the thread in Rabobank's cooperative history: people working together,
banks joining forces and specialised business units combining their expertise. Specifically, the
cooperative structure means that Rabobank Group considers serving its clients as its first and
main task. It achieves this 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.
The local Rabobanks and Rabobank Nederland, which is also the holding company of the
Group's subsidiaries and equity investments, are managed in accordance with the cooperative
model. A unique element in Rabobank Group's governance is the Central Delegates Assembly,
Rabobank Group's parliament, which meets four times a year and where member influence
makes itself heard in virtually all of Rabobank Nederland's strategic decisions.
Embedding member influence and control and recruiting engaged members are core
policy elements. In this way, the cooperative identity is emphasised by means of the control
members can exercise through the member councils. Member councils consist of 30 to 50
members of a local Rabobank and are cross-sections of the member base of local Rabobanks.
These councils increasingly function as committed sounding boards to members of boards
of directors and/or management and Supervisory Boards.
