Employees
Rabobank introduced a culture programme in 2013 in order to increase employee involvement
and to understand how employees can contribute to our common goals and an optimal customer
service. The programme focuses on employees'attitude and behaviour in our daily business.
As a cooperative bank, Rabobank is convinced that the values of respect, integrity, sustainability
and professionalism must be endorsed by and embedded in all our employees.
In accordance with its strategy, Rabobank introduced a more modest and restrained terms of
employment package during the reporting year that is more in line with other sectors. The new
Collective Labour Agreement applies from 1 July 2013 to the end of 2015. The main agreements
are: abolition of the variable remuneration, no general wage increase, replacement of the social
statute with a severance plan (Sociaal Plan) and a change to the pension scheme. Abolition of
the variable remuneration will be partly compensated by a wage increase of 1.5% in 2014.
Sustainably stronger together
The new sustainability strategy, whereby Rabobank will focus on accelerating efforts to increase
the sustainability of agriculture and food supplies around the world, was formulated in 2013.
Strengthening vital communities and sustainable economic success for our customers are also
important objectives.This policy will be formally ratified in 2014.
Rabobank strives to achieve a top 3 position in the global sustainability rating of the largest
financial services providers in 2020. Based on the evaluation of RobecoSAM and compared to
the banks listed in the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Rabobank's provisional score has
fallen from 83 to 81 points. Rabobank thus stands in 17th place in 2013, compared to 10th place
in 2012. With the implementation of its new sustainability strategy, Rabobank expects to be able
to achieve a higher score in future. The Transparency Benchmark of the Ministry of Economic
Affairs is an important indicator in the Netherlands. The Benchmark is an annual review of the
content and quality of public reporting by Dutch companies. Rabobank rose from 20th to 11th
in the general ranking during the reporting year.
Financial frameworks
Adequate capital and liquidity buffers determine financial robustness. These buffers are thus
prerequisites and are vital for retaining a high credit rating and good access to professional
funding. The requirements for the capital and liquidity buffers of Rabobank are also increasing
due to tighter legislation and regulations. At the same time, it is clear that the pace of growth of
Rabobank over the last 25 years is no longer sustainable. Lending grew much faster than
amounts due to customers and the increase in retained earnings in this period. As a result,
Rabobank increasingly had to turn to professional sources of funding and capital instruments.
Recent years have shown that the limits of this old growth model have been reached. In the
future, the maximum growth of lending will be determined by growth in amounts due to
customers and annual additions to the reserves.
The potential for increased lending will remain limited until the end of 2016. Demand for loans
in the Netherlands will be restricted by the economic conditions and the situation in the
housing market. The potential areas of growth outside the Netherlands will be exploited
selectively. For instance, there will be some growth in the international rural and retail banking
division in order to strengthen our business in certain key countries. Choices will be made
where this is needed. For example, Bank BGZ in Poland will be sold and ACCBank in Ireland will
be run down, while the activities in Turkey will be expanded. There is little potential for growth
of the assets of the wholesale banking division and De Lage Landen. Otherwise, the emphasis
will be on increasing the volume of amounts due to customers and the further diversification of
professional funding.
20 Annual Report 2013 Rabobank Group