Board members of the local Rabobanks in their activities, Rabobank Nederland offers a broad
package of learning programmes to local Supervisory Board members. Supervisory Board
members receive a fee for their activities.
General Meeting
Within the Partnership model, there is a General Meeting that is made up of the cooperative's
members. The powers of this General Meeting include resolutions on, inter alia, the appointment
and dismissal of members of management (except the General Manager), appointments to
the Supervisory Board, adopting the financial statements and the appropriation of profit.
Member Council
An increasing number of banks using the Partnership model have established a Member
Council as well. The Member Council is a delegation of all members elected by the members
from their ranks. The Member Council assumes the bulk of the powers of the General Meeting
and promotes and structures member control and engagement. A Member Council has
between 30 and 50 members and typically discusses such themes as the Bank's direction,
distribution policy and customer services. The Member Council acts as an important
discussion partner for Management in developing the Bank's strategic policy. Also, it takes
upon itself a number of General Meeting duties, such as the adoption of the financial
statements and appointments to the Supervisory Board. Furthermore, Member Councils are
often involved in the selection of local projects that are eligible for cooperative dividend.
Cooperative dividend comprises all the money and efforts invested in the improvement of
the economic, social and cultural environment, including sustainability initiatives.
Executive model
Management
In the Executive model, each local Rabobank has a Board of Directors comprising several
persons from the banking profession, which is appointed by the Supervisory Board and
operates under its supervision. In this model, no Board members are elected by the members
from their ranks, as is the case in the Partnership model.The Board of Directors is accountable
for the local Rabobank's management.
Supervisory Board
In common with banks using a Partnership model, banks with an Executive model have
a Supervisory Board that supervises the policy of the Board of Directors. The duties and
powers of this Supervisory Board are the same as those of the Supervisory Board in the
Partnership model.
General Meeting
In the Executive model, the General Meeting decides only on major issues that impact the
local Rabobank's continued existence, e.g. decisions on the cooperative's dissolution or the
termination of its membership of Rabobank Nederland.
Member Council
Local Rabobanks using the Executive model always have a Member Council in order to
firmly and permanently embed member influence and control in the structure.The Member
Council's powers under the Executive model are identical to those of the Member Council in
the Partnership model.
Employee influence within Rabobank Group
Rabobank attaches great value to consultations with the various employee representative
bodies. Employee influence within Rabobank Group has been enabled at various levels. Issues
concerning the business of Rabobank Nederland are handled by Rabobank Nederland's Works
Council. Subsidiaries such as Robeco, De Lage Landen, Orbay and Rabo Real Estate Group
each have their own Works Councils with consultative powers on matters concerning these
enterprises. In addition, each local Rabobank has its own Works Council to discuss matters
concerning that particular local Rabobank. The Group Works Council of Member Banks
(GOR AB) is a cooperative-structure based employee representative body that represents
65
Corporate governance