Embedded into Rabobank's remuneration policy for the members of the Executive Board are
its cooperative identity and structure. Within the framework of the remuneration policy as
formulated by the Central Delegates Assembly, the Supervisory Board set the performance-
related payment to each member of the Executive Board on the basis of the assessments
made of their performance in 2008. After having been reviewed by the Supervisory Board,
the 2008 remuneration report was discussed by the Committee on Confidential Matters of the
Central Delegates Assembly. The latter committee subsequently presented its report to the
Central Delegates Assembly, that acts as the representative of the members of Rabobank
Nederland. The total income of each member of the Executive Board is in line with the
standards formulated in the Dutch Corporate Governance Code, the Banking Code and
the principles for a controlled remuneration policy of the Dutch Central Bank and the
Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets.
Remuneration policy
Remuneration policies of financial institutions have been a subject of debate in the public
domain for some time, and bonus policies at some financial institutions has been described
as exorbitant by a number of commentators.
Rabobank Nederland is a cooperative association and, unlike listed public limited liability
companies, that have anonymous shareholders, it is under no obligation to publish the
remuneration of the individual members of its Executive Board, nor will it do so this year.
The total amount paid to the collective members of both the Supervisory Board and the
Executive Board each year has been published in the Financial Statements for many years.
In compliance with IFRS requirements, this total amount specifies salaries, variable
compensation and pension charges. Rabobank does not award variable compensation in the
form of option and/or share packages to members of either the Executive Board or senior
management. The variable compensation of the Executive Board of Rabobank Nederland is
therefore modest. There is a short-term variable compensation of up to 15% of fixed income,
which is paid annually, and a long-term compensation, which is equally maximised at 15%
but which is not paid until after a three-year term. A variable compensation component
exceeding 30% of fixed income is paid to only a small number of individuals at highly
specialised positions within Rabobank International. This is in line with the remuneration
practice used worldwide for this type of staff.
The remuneration structure within the Rabobank organisation has never been such that it
might encourage irresponsible risks being taken.
The Committee on Confidential Matters of the Central Delegates Assembly has been aware
of the salaries of individual members of the Executive Board for many years and, through that
Committee, this aspect is reported to the members of the cooperative in a fully transparent
manner. Rabobank intends to give the independent Banking Code Monitoring Committee
likewise access to this salary information after its inception.
Strong performance
Rabobank Group coped well with the effects of the difficult market conditions and the
Supervisory Board concluded that the cooperative organisational structure again fully
proved its strength in 2009.
The Supervisory Board is satisfied with the general course of affairs and with the way in
which the Executive Board has coped with the challenging financial and economic conditions.
The Supervisory Board wishes to thank both management and staff for the commitment and
professionalism they have demonstrated.
Utrecht, 4 March 2010
The Supervisory Board
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Report 2009 Rabobank Group
