Working Closely Together with Partners to Manage Major Regulatory Changes

How can you respond to a pandemic, the start of a war and rising climate concerns at once?

Will resilience be a key factor to ensure banks are in a robust, safe and capable position to accelerate their plans in 2023?

Yes, banks need to be resilient. That has always been the case since economies have cycles of growth and downturns and unfortunately disrupting wars have been there in the past. Today the difference is the speed at which disruptions occur. How can you respond to a pandemic, the start of a war and rising climate concerns at once? That is a challenge for all banks. It calls for agility in teams but with a firm mission and vision to keep the company stable for the long term. Rabobank is a cooperative bank without shareholders. That allows us to focus on the long term.

How to manage increased regulatory pressure for effective oversight and control of outsourced activities?

Banks are experienced in managing regulatory pressure. When additional rules are imposed it is key to work together with your outsourcing partners. To a large extent, the approach towards outsourced activities is comparable to internal activities. We focus on policy implementations, process changes and automation and carefully implement changes. By keeping our partners close we can work together. In case a major regulatory change occurs there should be a thorough understanding of the consequences and often a renegotiation of the contract. If there is full mutual understanding adjustments can be discussed with a solution that fits all parties involved.

How will the OpRisk management field emerge in the future if it maintains its current course of development?

Risks will become more complicated. Factors like globalization, regulation and automation will bring new challenges to the bank. Addressing all factors asks for specialized skills and investments in IT and data quality.

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Martine Martens is a Director KYC Operations Private Clients at Rabobank. She has over 20 years of experience in banking. Martine started her career at ABN AMRO in commercial banking but, as she states herself, “really became a banker at Rabobank during the years she worked in credit risk”. For the last 12 years she worked in leadership positions at Rabobank and specialized in leading large teams in a change environment.

She experienced the start of Know Your Customer (KYC) within the banking industry and contributed to the development and professionalizing of the important gatekeeper’s role that banks have. In her current position as Director of Operations Private Persons, she is responsible for a large team of analysts. Also, she is the business owner of several projects where innovative IT solutions are built to make KYC operations future-proof.

Martine is motivated by the impact that her work has on society. Keeping the financial system free from money that has an illegal source will help to build a safer world. With that in mind, she inspires her team to constantly and consciously improve their work.