Contents Management report Corporate governance Consolidated financial statements Financial statements Pillar 3
Contacts with stakeholders
In performing its duties, the Supervisory Board focuses on
the interests of Rabobank Group, with a view to judiciously
balancing the interests of the parties involved, including
customers, members, employees and society at large.
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board is in close contact with
the Chairman of the Executive Board and consults on a monthly
basis with the internal auditor and the Group Compliance
Officer. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, the Chairman
of the Audit Committee, the external auditor and the internal
auditor meet at least four times a year. The Chairman of the
Risk Committee meets on a regular basis with the Head of Risk
Management and with the internal auditor.
Several times a year, the Supervisory Board receives information
about developments and relevant topics from directors,
Rabobank specialists or external experts, either during
committee meetings, other meetings or continuing professional
education sessions. The members of the Supervisory Board
attend, as observers, meetings of Rabobank Nederland's
Works Council and of the Group Works Council of Member
Banks on a rotating basis. Given the importance of these
bodies in Rabobank's cooperative model, the members of the
Supervisory Board spend much time attending Regional and
Central Delegates Assemblies. The Chairman of the Supervisory
Board is also theTechnical Chairman of the Central Delegates
Assembly, the Emergency Affairs Committee of the Central
Delegates Assembly and of the General Meeting of Rabobank
Nederland. In addition, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board
attends the meetings of the Coordination Committee and the
Committee on Confidential Matters of the Central Delegates
Assembly. The members of the Supervisory Board also attend, as
appropriate, conferences and information sessions for members
of the local management teams and Supervisory Boards of the
local Rabobanks or, on invitation, meetings of local Rabobanks
for their members. The (Chairman of) Supervisory Board,
independent of or together with the (Chairman of) Executive
Board, maintains contact with external regulators, namely
the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), the Netherlands Authority for
the Financial Markets (AFM) and the Joint Supervisory Team
of the ECB and DNB. The Chairmen of the Audit and the
Risk Committees also meet on a regular basis with the Joint
Supervisory Team. By doing so, the Supervisory Board keeps
in touch with developments at key internal and external
stakeholders.
Meetings
Meetings of the Supervisory Board
In 2015, the Supervisory Board met seventeen times.
This consisted of regular meetings (nine) as well as additional
scheduled meetings (eight), of which five were themed
meetings: the United States (1); cooperative governance (3)
and strategy (1The meetings were also attended by the
Executive Board.The regular meetings were often followed by
a closed meeting of the Supervisory Board. There were also four
PE sessions organised for the entire Supervisory Board, with
a standing invitation to the members of the Executive Board.
Finally, the Supervisory Board met twice, without the presence
of the Executive Board, with representatives from the ECB/DNB
as part of the annual policy consultation and feedback on the
results of the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP).
In 2015, no member was repeatedly absent from the regularly
scheduled meetings of the Supervisory Board or its committees.
The presence of the members of the Supervisory Board at
additional meetings was also high.
Committee meetings
The Supervisory Board participates in various committees. In the
year under review, the Audit Committee met eight times and
the Risk Committee seven times. In January 2015, an additional
combined session was held of the Audit and Risk Committees
to discuss the results of the Asset Quality Review (AQR) by the
ECB, the measures to be taken and the potential effect on the
profit and loss account over 2014.
In the year under review, the Cooperative Issues Committee
met four times, the Appointments Committee five times and
the HR Committee seven times. No matters were referred to
the Appeals Committee in 2015. In 2015, some members of the
Supervisory Board sat on the temporary committee responsible
for the preparation of the selection procedure for the new
external accountant.
Off-site meetings
In 2015, the Supervisory Board held two off-site meetings.
The first meeting focused on the new governance structure.
The second meeting focused on strategy.
163 Report of the Supervisory Board
