Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group has announced the appointment of Karin van Selm to the position of Group Executive, Wholesale Banking.
Ms van Selm will commence in the role on August 1, taking over from Els Kamphof, who has been appointed to head the regional Wholesale Banking operations for Rabobank in the Netherlands and Africa.
Rabobank Australia and New Zealand Group managing director Peter Knoblanche said Ms van Selm – who is currently the bank’s General Manager of Corporate Banking – was ideally placed to take on the position of Group Executive, Wholesale Banking to “ensure a seamless continuation of the successful expansion and development of Rabobank’s wholesale banking operation undertaken over the past two-and-half years”.
Ms van Selm has worked in her current role with Rabobank since January 2016.
In that time, she had led the development of a significantly-enhanced Wholesale Loan Products Group, Mr Knoblanche said, providing for the increasingly complex and sophisticated requirements of the bank’s large corporate clients operating in the food and agribusiness sector.
“Karin has extensive experience and exceptional understanding of the corporate bankingneeds of major companies involved in the food and agricultural sector,” he said.
The world’s leading food and agribusiness banking, Rabobank is one of Australia’s largest agricultural banks and a major provider of specialist corporate financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector.
Commencing her career as a tax lawyer at Ernst & Young in the Netherlands, Ms van Selm worked in structured finance at ING Barings, before moving to Australia in 2005 and joining Westpac, where she worked in various roles in its institutional banking Consumer and Agribusiness team, responsible for a large portfolio of food and agribusiness clients.
She holds a Master of Laws, specialising in international tax and economics.
Ms van Selm said the future opportunities for Australia and New Zealand’s corporate food and agribusiness were “exciting”, with both countries producing world-class agricultural produce and with rapidly-growing export markets in close proximity in the region.
“That said, businesses in the F&A sector are challenged to remain competitive in the various commodity markets, faced with increasing costs of labour, water, energy and insurance, as well as stricter regulatory environments,” she said.
Ms van Selm said Rabobank’s specialist knowledge of the food and agricultural supply chain provided significant opportunities for the bank to collaborate with its clients to grow and strengthen the sector – including in the development of premium products, leveraging provenance, and investing in technology to drive operational efficiency, productivity and encourage a sustainable agricultural value chain.
“Rabobank, with its both global and local reach in food and agriculture, and its deep understanding of the various segments of the agri market, is well positioned to enable, facilitate and connect our clients in the value chain and support them with their growth ambitions,” she said.
Mr Knoblanche paid tribute to the bank’s outgoing Group Executive of Wholesale Banking Els Kamphof, who has been promoted to the position of Regional Head Wholesale for the Netherlands and Africa, taking responsibility for Rabobank’s corporate banking operations in both markets.
“The choice of Els for this very important role for Rabobank internationally is testament to the high regard with which she is held in the bank and the enormous contribution she has made to developing the wholesale business in Australia and New Zealand in the past two-and-a-half years,” he said.
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is a part of the global Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has nearly 120 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 40 countries, servicing the needs of approximately 8.6 million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is one of Australasia’s leading agricultural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 94 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Media contacts:
Denise Shaw
Head of Media Relations
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Phone: 02 8115 2744 or 0439 603 525
Email: denise.shaw@rabobank.com
Skye Ward
Media Relations Manager
Rabobank Australia
Phone: 02 4855 1111 or 0418 216 103
Email: skye.ward@rabobank.com