.frerlo i s
An interview with
Mr. W. J. Slagter
Staff journal of the ABN Bank, Amsterdam, Holland, and affiliations December 1979, No 4
When this edition of ABN Bank
notes is delivered on your desks, it
will be mid-December or a bit
later. And we will stand on the
threshold of another decade. We
will close off the seventies, a
period in which exasperating
changes occurred in the world
economy, changes which have also
been felt in most private lives,
wherever on this earth they are
being lived. Booming oil-prices,
dwindling currencies, political
turn-arounds, the gold-price at its
highest-ever level... to mention of
few of those events which every
one of you may have experienced
from close by.
In those seventies, in which the
world has been crossing turbulent
waters, we are grateful that our
bank has followed a stable course
and has definitely been able to
progress. That is, as we feel it, the
more important since we provide
work so many people: nowadays
8,000 men and women outside
the Netherlands, double the num
ber of employees at 1969-end.
We did not forget to strengthen
our position in the homemarket.
In particular by having acquired
Bank Mees Hope and by build
ing up our network of branches
and enlarging our activities we
have an increased, strong and
stable share in the Dutch banking
market, where we give employ
ment to 19300 men and women.
In these seventies we have con
centrated our foreign policy on
"expansion": branches were open-
In the previous issue, Mr.
P.J. Pistor summarized the
developments in continental
Europe. This time we look to
the Far East which, together
with Australia, is among the
group of countries for which
Mr. W.J. Slagter is responsible.
"You are, of course, referring
to Asia, or Southeast Asia," he
pointed out politely but
firmly. "Over there they do
not call Europe 'the Far
West'." We take his point!
Mr. Slagter, 59, joined the
Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij
in Amsterdam in 1937.
Immediately after the Second
World War he was posted to
Bombay. In the years which
followed, he moved to Hongkong,
Jakarta, Pontianak, back to Jakarta,
Jeddah, Dammam and Calcutta.
In 1970 he returned to Head
Office, where two years later he
was promoted to the rank of
inspector. His appointment as
general manager followed in 1975.
You can look back on a long
career. Has there, in your view,
been any fundamental change in
banking in that time?
"Most certainly. Since I entered
the bank, the change has actually
taken place in three phases. Before
the war, the Bank - the NHM -
was something of an exclusive
institution, if I may put it that way.
The attitude towards the outside
world was that if someone did not
know that the NHM was a bank, he
was not worth doing business
with! As a private individual, it
was something of a privilege to be
allowed to bank with the NHM.
Little was done to acquire new
clients.
"The first change in outlook
came after the war. In a Southeast
Asia devastated by the hostilities, it
was a case of 'all hands to the
pumps' to rebuild our business, and
we had no qualms about going out
and looking for new customers.
"The second change came in
1959, when a large slice of our
business disappeared following the
nationalization of our twenty
branches in Indonesia. That was a
savage blow and one which did not
fail to have consequences for other
branches, for example Singapore.
For several years we had to cut
down on our staff, and in our
attitude to business we were
reticent and conservative.
"The third change came about
ten years later. Then we took
on the modern approach to bank
ing. We again took part in all
manner of ventures and assumed an
expansive mood. One important
distinction between the Bank then
and now is that the NHM operated
mainly in Southeast Asia and had
its headquarters in Amsterdam. Its
services were limited, and our
activities abroad consisted chiefly
of pre- and post-financing of import
and export transactions. The ABN,
in contrast, is a true international
bank with an immensely expanded
range of services."
Continued on page 4
and will not unlikely change still
more. It seems not unreasonable
to believe that progress in the
eighties will be much more equi
valent to "quality" rather than to
"quantity". In an international
organization like ABN's both as
pects will certainly be present, but
everfaster world communications,
growing competition in interna
tional banking and finance, new
world-trade patterns and increas
ing risks in certain sectors of
countries and customers will most
probably place an emphasis on
quality and consolidation.
No doubt, it means that ABN as
an institution, and its personnel
will face new challenges. Chal
lenges that may be looked for
ward to, however, with confi
dence, since ABN has historically
shown to be capable navigating
successfully into new eras and
areas.
We wish you all a fine start of
these eighties and hope your work
will be satisfying and will contri
bute to a happy and prosperous
private life.
Dr. A. Batenburg
Chairman of the Managing Board
ed in many countries particularly
in Europe, North-America and the
Middle-East and new affiliates
were acquired in France, Switzer
land and the U.S.A. The expan
sion, however, did not only take
shape through an increase of the
number of offices, but also
through a considerable growth of
our assets. From 31st December
1969 till 30th June 1979 our
Bank's balance sheet total advanc
ed from 15.8 billion to 82.7
billion guilders!
These growth figures are im
portant for the presentation of
our Bank to the outside world:
customers who rely on our ser
vices and financial resources. But
they are equally important to
demonstrate the efforts of our
personnel, both in Holland and
world-wide, to expand the Bank's
activities. They are proof of the
enthusiasm and sense of responsi
bility which prevails within the
ABN all over the globe.
We are grateful for these achie
vements. We would hope, of
course, to reach a balanced pro
gress in the eighties. Circum
stances, however, have changed
ABN Banknotes
'The future lies
with Southeast Asia'
Amsterdam wishes you a happy
and prosperous New Year
