For such a solid, steady state bank, what is surprising is Rabo’s radical approach to funding. It is one of the largest issuers of structured notes and specialises in accessing niche currencies.
“We’re the biggest issuer in Icelandic krona, even bigger than the Icelandic government,” says Bert Bruggink, the bank’s finance director, in describing the issuance programme. “We try to be innovative in terms of format, product and currency and in 2006, we were the first to do international issuance in Israeli shekel, Romanian leu and Slovakian krona. If there is a swap, we will do it.”
This year Rabo has issued in Botswanan pula as well as other African and South American currencies. The philosophy seems to be: if you are conservative on the asset side, you can afford to be a bit more original on the liability side, especially when the use of swaps ensures that private investors are left with the risk.
