The members of the cooperative
In 2007, work progressed to intensify the involvement and influence of the more
than the 1.6 million members that the local Rabobanks now have. This progress
concerned several areas. The number of member councils grew from 83 to 104 in
2007. The effectiveness and experience within supervisory boards of the ever
growing local Rabobanks increased further. Also, the cooperative dividend was
defined further in 2007. Many hundreds of initiatives have served to enhance the
economic, social and cultural environment, with members asserting their
influence. In addition, local Rabobanks introduced member benefit programmes,
enabling closer ties between members and the bank.
Members make the difference
Member councils
Local supervisory boards
www.rabobank.com - 60% of local Rabobanks have member councils
- Heightened professionalisation of supervisory boards
- Cooperative dividend yields links between clients and members from all social layers
- More than 1.6 million members
Embedding member influence and control and recruiting engaged members are core policy
elements in Rabobank's membership policy. In 2004, the 'Members make the difference'
report initiated a new corporate governance structure of the local Rabobanks, with the role
of members in member councils receiving greater prominence.
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 directors and/or management and supervisory boards. Member councils
and management boards discuss issues such as the bank's direction, distribution policy and
client service. In addition, the bank engages its member council in the selection of and
distributions to local community projects, i.e. its cooperative dividend. All banks opting for
the executive model, which includes professional management and an elected supervisory
board, automatically have member councils. At year-end 2007, 88 (68) out of the 174 (188)
local Rabobanks had opted for the executive model. In addition, 16 (15) banks operate under
the partnership model with a member council. In all, 60% of the banks have implemented
member councils, as a result of which member influence was embedded further in
Rabobank's cooperative structure during the year under review.
The enlargement of the local Rabobanks due to the many mergers and the associated
increased complexity of management are making ever-higher demands on individual
supervisory board members. Increasingly, the supervisory boards comprise an optimum mix
of complementing competencies, with their members having wide and in-depth experience.
This improves the 'checks and balances' within the local Rabobanks and ensures a proper
balance between professional bankers and professionals from other disciplines. Rabobank
Nederland provides knowledge to supervisory board members in order to optimise their
performance. In that context, the first 'Supervisory Board Members' Day' was held in the
autumn of 2007, which was attended by 600 out of the 1,000 supervisory board members.
Virtually all local Rabobanks were represented. In workshops and in plenary sessions,
discussions were held with the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Rabobank
Nederland on a wide range of topical issues for Rabobank.
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Rabobank Group Annual Report 2007
