Bank names new chairman

Current chairman of Rabobank New Zealand Sir Henry van der Heyden will become the chairman of Rabobank Australia effective 29 November 2017.

Sir Henry has been a member of the Rabobank Australia board since 2012.

He was formerly the chairman of global dairy company Fonterra Co-operative Group (2002–2012) and is a career-long dairy farmer.

Announcing the appointment, Rabobank Group chairman Wiebe Draijer said that Sir Henry’s experience as an “international agribusiness leader and company director” made him a natural successor to Mr Gurry.

“Henry’s skills and experience as a business leader, along with his passion for agriculture and his deep knowledge and understanding of Rabobank and our unique cooperative banking model, will allow for a smooth transition at the helm of the board from Bill Gurry, who has been an outstanding chairman,” Mr Draijer said.

Mr Gurry will retire from the Rabobank Australia board after serving on it for more than 12 years. He was previously executive chairman of UBS Australia.