Rabobank announced that Carlo van Kemenade will join the Rabobank Managing Board as Director of Retail Netherlands as of April 1, 2024. As a member of the Managing Board, he will be responsible for the entire Retail domain in the Netherlands for a term of four years. The appointment of van Kemenade is subject to approval by the regulatory authorities. The portfolio rebalancing underlines the bank's strategy to strengthen its leading position in the Netherlands and globally to be the leading F&A bank and leader in vendor finance.
By merging the portfolios of private and business clients, Rabobank is taking an important step towards a simpler and more customer-oriented Retail Netherlands organization. The amendment means that Kirsten Konst (Business Clients) and Mariëlle Lichtenberg (Private Clients) will step down as MB members as of April 1, 2024. Until then they remain fully committed to contributing to the changes in the retail domain to give the new organization a good start and to ensure a diligent handover.
The appointment of van Kemenade as Director of Retail Netherlands creates a vacancy for the position of CEO DLL. After approval of the regulatory authorities, DLL's yet-to-be-appointed new CEO will join the Rabobank Managing Board in the course of 2024 and will be responsible for the group-wide vendor finance activities. With this decision, Rabobank emphasizes the strategic importance of its leasing activities and its ambition to consolidate its global leading position in Vendor Finance. As a subsidiary of Rabobank, DLL will remain an independent entity.
On behalf of Rabobank's Supervisory Board, Chair Marjan Trompetter said she is very pleased with the appointment, "With the appointment of Carlo van Kemenade, another seasoned director from our own organization joins our Managing Board. Carlo has a long history within the Rabobank Group and has proven that he is of great added value to the organization. I would like to thank Kirsten and Mariëlle for their great contribution to the bank, including the last seven years as a member of the Managing Board. Under their leadership, Rabobank has transformed into a modern, visible cooperative bank in the Netherlands, also present through digital channels, with a clear role in society. In doing so, they have given the bank a clear profile and laid a solid foundation on which we can further expand our leading position in the Netherlands.”
Chairman of the Rabobank Managing Board Stefaan Decraene: "I would like to thank Kirsten and Mariëlle very much for their valuable contribution to the bank and its mission. Together, they have implemented a major transformation of Retail NL, lifted the digitization of the bank to the next level and positioned Rabobank close to our clients and members."
"As Managing Board, we look forward to working with Carlo van Kemenade to further strengthen our cooperative Rabobank. With his qualities and experience, Carlo is very well-suited to fill the position of Director of Retail Netherlands. He has extensive experience in financial services, general management and commerce and a solid track record in execution, change ability and customer focus. Previously, he has been a member of the DLL Executive Board for many years, CEO of Obvion and CEO of DLL since 2022. I see this appointment as an important next step to simplify the organization of Retail Netherlands, make it more efficient and increase customer focus, thereby realizing our ambition to strengthen our market leadership in the Netherlands."
On behalf of the DLL Supervisory Board, Chairman Berry Marttin said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for Carlo, who will this way be able to deploy his talent within the wider Rabobank Group. However, at DLL he will be greatly missed, and it is important that we find a suitable successor as soon as possible. We would like to thank Carlo very much for his outstanding contributions to DLL over the years.”
van Kemenade, CEO and Chairman of the DLL Executive Board, said, “I am grateful for being given the opportunity to help build a very substantial and even stronger Retail Netherlands for Rabobank. Over the past two years, I have been able to work with a very strong team on DLL’s refreshed strategy and the simplification of our DLL organization to further improve our global customer service. I am proud of what we have accomplished in a short time with our leadership team and our more than 5,600 DLL members.”