Asia
Our customer base in Asia continued to grow in 2014, driven by economic growth and the
increase in activity by Asian companies involved in the food and agri sector. With its
combination of food and agri knowhow and an extensive global network, Rabobank Asia is
uniquely positioned to help them achieve their international ambitions. We expect growth in
Asia to continue, on the basis that the emphasis of economic activity will increasingly shift to
this region in the years to come.
United States
The wholesale banking business in the United States continues to focus on supporting
businesses in the food and agri sector. On the back of the pick-up in economic activity in the
United States, Rabobank strengthened its position as a leading player in the food and agri
sector in this part of the worid.The increasing intensity of regulatory requirements in the United
States was a major focus of attention in 2014.
Rural Retail banking
Within Rural Retail banking, the Rural banking arm focuses on the funding of agricultural
businesses abroad. Partly due to currency effects, lending to rural customers increased by 13%
in 2014 to EUR 35.2 (31.1) billion. A large proportion of these loans are provided to customers in
Australia and New Zealand, where Rabobank has had a strong position for many years and
where lending showed clear growth in 2014. The United States is also an important market
where we operate actively under the name of Rabo AgriFinance, which focuses fully on the
agricultural sector.
Retail banking consists of the following elements:
International retail banking
The international retail banking activities concern three countries: Ireland (ACC Loan
Management), the United States (RNA) and Indonesia. With the sale of Bank BGZ, the presence
in Poland has been reduced to an interest of slightly less than 10%.
ACC Loan Management
ACCBank in Ireland underwent a reorganisation in 2013 and 2014 in order to fully focus on the
management of the existing loan portfolio.The number of offices in Ireland has been reduced
further, the number of employees has been sharply reduced and commercial activities
(payment services and savings accounts) have also mostly been terminated. In line with this
focus and reorganisation, the retail banking licence has been returned, and the name has been
changed to ACC Loan Management. At year-end 2014, the loan portfolio of ACC Loan
Management stood at EUR 1.9 (2.4) billion.
Sale of Bank BGZ to BNP Pari bas
The sale of the majority of the shares in Bank BGZ to the BNP Paribas Group was completed on
23 September 2014. The parties had reached agreement regarding the sale of the shareholding
in the Polish bank for a sum of approximately EUR 1 billion in December 2013. A merger
between Rabobank Polska and Bank BGZ was effected in the first half of 2014. The sale of Bank
BGZ includes the activities of Rabobank Polska.
66 Annual Report 2014 Rabobank Group
