Decisions made when updating strategy
- Promoting equal opportunity and economic participation. Rabobank Group wants to create
equal opportunities and economic participation for all people. This central theme is rooted
in Rabobank's cooperative history. We promote participation and diversity, for instance by
developing financial services for specific target groups, such as teenagers, the elderly, people
with disabilities and business start-ups.
- Encouraging local cohesion and partnerships both within and outside the Netherlands.
Rabobank Group wants to foster social cohesion and solidarity in local communities in
several ways.The local Rabobanks annually distribute cooperative dividend to civil society
groups and projects. Rabobank also has social funds such as Rabobank Foundation.
Rabobank undertakes commercial banking activities globally in areas where there are few
banks. Employees are encouraged to harness their knowledge and skills by volunteering for
Rabo Development or for Rabobank Foundation. The group entities individually also
promote community involvement.
Key performance indicators for CSR
In 2009, Rabobank Group formulated the following four key performance indicators (KPIs)
relating to CSR:
- helping clients move towards clean and sustainable business operations (sustainable loans,
funding of clean and sustainable technology);
- helping clients make responsible investments (sustainable investment services);
- supporting community partnerships (cooperative dividend/economic development of
communities outside the Netherlands);
- providing climate-neutral and energy-efficient services (neutral climate footprint).
In 2010, Rabobank Group's entities fleshed out these KPIs into performance indicators for each
core activity or entity. The CSR KPIs will be the subject of internal reporting from 2011 onwards.
Organisation and management of CSR
The organisation and management of the Rabobank Group's CSR policies and processes
did not undergo material changes in the reporting period. For more information, see
www.rabobank.com/csr-organisation.The conclusion of an internal survey of the level of
integration of CSR into the core activities was that improvements were possible as far as
focus on the CSR performance was concerned. Pertinent action was taken in the year under
review by having the management communicate the importance of CSR and developing
key performance indicators for CSR linked to the CSR central themes.
Greater focus on funding
Given the change in market circumstances and the stricter capital and liquidity requirements
to be introduced under the Basel III bank requirements, Rabobank Group has decided to
place even greater emphasis on sound balance sheet ratios. Any increase in lending is largely
dependent on growth in amounts due to customers. It is important that the local Rabobanks,
Rabobank International and the subsidiaries arrange a significant portion of their funding
themselves.
Greater emphasis on corporate market
With regard to the Netherlands, Rabobank wants to be the leading bank across the entire
spectrum of businesses. A strong position on the corporate market creates added opportunities
for providing private banking services to business owners in a private capacity. In addition,
Rabobank wants to achieve further growth in the private banking segment by means of
differentiation in customer services, partnerships with subsidiaries and providing better
advice. Providing a wide range of services will of course remain a priority of the all-finance
strategy. On an international level, we want to offer the best possible services to our major
Dutch clients through our extensive network.
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Annual Report 2010 Rabobank Group