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73-643: Founded in 1913 as the Coöperatieve Zuivelbank (Co-operative Dairy bank) , it affiliated with "Raiffeisenbank". However, as Raiffeisenbank merged with the Boerenleenbank to form Rabobank , the Coöperatieve Zuivelbank was once again fully independent. In 1970, the company changed its name to Friesland Bank. Originally operating only in Friesland itself, Friesland Bank started opening branches in

146-834: A RaboDirect in Germany. Rabobank has had a presence in Germany since 1984. It has operated in the field of corporate finance and has been primarily active in the food and agriculture sector in the country. Rabobank operated a direct bank in Poland, but under the Bank BGZ operation and using the name "BGZ Optima". The Polish business including BGZ Optima was subsequently sold to French bank BNP Paribas in December 2013 for around $ 1.4 billion. Rabobank has naming rights to several venues and organizations, including: The major investment banks in London report daily

219-663: A Socialist pillar. Even though the liberals were stronger in Belgium (particularly in Brussels ) than in the Netherlands, they were still relatively weak, owing to their rather small, bourgeois support: liberal trade unions were very small. De Tijd , a financial daily, is the newspaper aligned with the liberals, as its readership consists mainly of liberal supporters. However, a Flemish newspaper with historical liberal roots, Het Laatste Nieuws , also exists. Denominational (many Catholic and

292-475: A consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank . Rooted in agriculture , Rabobank is set up as a federation of local credit unions that offer services to the local markets. The bank was rooted in the ideas of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen , the founder of the cooperative movement of credit unions, who in 1864 created the first farmers' bank in Germany. Being a countryside mayor he

365-413: A few Jewish) schools receive some public money, although not parity of funding as in the Netherlands, so that tuition is almost completely free. Belgian universities charge more or less the same, relatively low, tuition fees. As a consequence of the language struggle in the latter half of the twentieth century, the pillars split over the language issue, which became the most significant divisive factor in

438-473: A founding principle of Rabobank's cooperative style was to cooperate in the interest of "warding off the Shylock " . The cooperative bank model assured a tight bond between invested capital and the community. The bank's traditional headquarters are Utrecht and Eindhoven . In 1898, two cooperative bank conglomerates were formed: Raiffeisen-Bank was formed as a cooperative of six local banks, while Boerenleenbank

511-543: A further tightening of the bonds between the two: In 1972, the two organisations merged to form Coöperatieve Centrale Ra iffeisen- Bo erenleen bank , or Rabobank for short. The organisation chose Amsterdam to be its statutory headquarters due to its historical neutrality in relation to the founding organisations. From 1980 to 2015, the central organisation was referred to as Rabobank Nederland. In 1980, Rabobank expanded its international activities as part of its mission to finance global agriculture. In 1990, it established

584-437: A headquarters but preferred to speak of Rabobank Nederland, which was their daughter organisation. In 2016, however, the local banks merged with Rabobank Nederland, while retaining significant independence. Even before 2016, the central organisation occasionally overruled the autonomy of the local bank organisations. In accordance with Dutch regulations in the field of credit and financial services Rabobank Nederland oversees that

657-671: A joint-venture bank in Indonesia by partnering with a local bank, Bank Duta, to form RabobankDuta. Bank Duta subsequently collapsed in the 1998 Asian financial crisis, and Rabobank bought Duta's share to operate solely as PT Bank Rabobank International Indonesia. In 1994, it purchased Primary Industry Bank of Australia (PIBA), which had operations in Australia and New Zealand, and renamed it Rabobank Australia Limited in 2003. In 1997, it purchased New Zealand–based Wrightson Farmers Finance Limited and renamed it Rabobank New Zealand in 1999. Rabobank became

730-460: A lot of interest in the Netherlands at the end of the 19th century. One of the first of Raiffeisen's followers was Father Gerlacus van den Elsen, who stood at the basis of a number of local farmers' banks in the south of the Netherlands. The model caught on being championed by the clergy and the countryside elites . The mission of the farmers' lending banks was an idealistic one, but they always operated using strict business principles. Controversially,

803-411: A network of local banks, Rabobank Nederland and several daughter organisations. Previously, the local Rabobanks were the mother organisation of Rabobank Nederland, their central organisation. The local banks were facilitated by Rabobank Nederland to serve their customers, not the other way around as is often the case with traditional banking organisations. Employees of the group did not routinely speak of

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876-442: A new arrangement necessary. In late 2015, on the recommendation of a specially-created Governance Committee, Rabobank's 106 cooperative banks voted unanimously to merge with Rabobank Nederland. The merger took effect on 1 January 2016. While the 106 Rabobanks still have considerable autonomy, the central organisation is now the parent body. A 2013 scandal resulted in a $ 1 billion fine for unscrupulous trading practices, which included

949-465: A process of pillarisation (Dutch: verzuiling ), which in practice meant that members of different religious congregations and political movements essentially lived side by side, without contact between the two. A consequence of this pillarisation was that many villages hosted not one but two local banks, one each for Catholics and Protestants. The close-knit community banking that resulted helped these banks to better control their risks. Consequently, when

1022-457: A risk to ecosystems, including $ 30.9 million from Rabobank. The report highlights the importance of EU regulation of the financial sector to align financing with global 1.5°C and biodiversity targets. Rabobank has received criticism because the bank was involved in financing hundreds of farmers who committed illegal deforestation in Brazil. This is contrary to the official policy as communicated by

1095-640: A settlement with the United States Department of Justice for 298 million euros. The bank did not have its internal controls in order, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money being laundered through the American Rabobank subsidiary RNA in California. The Bankrolling Ecosystem Destruction report from a coalition of civil society organizations shows how much money is flowing from EU-based financial institutions to sectors that pose

1168-592: A significant lender to the rural sector in New Zealand with this purchase and used this as a base to expand its lending business further. In Europe, Rabobank in 1992 purchased Allgemeine Deutsche Credit-Anstalt , a German bank. In 2002, Rabobank launched a new internet only savings bank called Rabobank.be . A second online savings banks was launched in 2005 in Ireland under the name of RaboDirect , and then as RaboPlus in New Zealand and two years later in Australia. After

1241-410: A small hiatus new online banks were opened in Poland (2011) and Germany (2012). The advertising campaigns used to promote the savings business in Ireland and New Zealand raised the profile of Rabobank generally in those countries resulting in an increase in not only its savings business but also in its lending businesses. In 2010, Rabobank decided to use the same brand name in Australia and New Zealand for

1314-484: A traditional board i.e., they are expected to look out for the specific interests of the members (local banks and their certificate holders). The Raad van Toezicht was renamed to county commission and now held an independent supervisory role. The chairman of this board also presides over the Centrale Kringvergadering . The latter is the most distinguishing organ as compared to other financial institutions in

1387-479: A very ambivalent relationship between the two over the years. At the time of the merger there were five management instruments within Rabobank Nederland: In 2002 this structure was simplified. The Raad van Beheer was disbanded. De Hoofddirectie received an integral authority over the banking business. It was also renamed to Raad van Bestuur or board of directors . They have an added task compared to

1460-535: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rabobank Rabobank ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈraːboːbɑŋk] ; full name: Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. ) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht , Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Rabobank Nederland), and many specialised international offices and subsidiaries . Food and agribusiness constitute

1533-574: Is that one group (the Protestant – Unionist – Loyalist population) enjoyed clear political, economic and social dominance over the other group (the Catholics – nationalist – republicans ). This has been described as pillarisation "without consociationalism ." Especially since the Belfast Agreement (1998), efforts have been made to break down segregation. "Cross-community" political parties such as

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1606-630: Is the exception rather than the rule for persons holding different political opinions to co-operate in any other matter. Thus in one town there will be a Catholic, a Liberal and a Socialist trade union, a Catholic, a Liberal and a Socialist thrift society, each catering for similar people, but each confining its attentions to members of its own political party. The separation extends to cafes, gymnasia, choral, temperance, and literary societies; indeed it cuts through life! In both Flanders and Wallonia , societies were pillarised between Catholic and Liberal political denominations which were subsequently joined by

1679-449: Is the third-largest retail bank by market share, and second largest by number of current accounts at 30%. ING Group is the largest with 40% of current accounts, followed by Rabobank (30%), ABN AMRO (20%), and others (10%). The Rabobank Group currently consists of the following divisions: RaboDirect , formerly RaboPlus in some locations is the brand name for online-only services offered by Rabobank. RaboDirect operates in Belgium,

1752-885: Is the vertical separation of citizens into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) divided into two or more groups known as pillars (Dutch: zuilen ). The best-known examples of this have historically occurred in the Netherlands and Belgium . Each pillar may have its own social institutions and social organizations . These may include its own newspapers, broadcasting organisations, political parties , trade unions, farmers' associations, banks, stores, schools, hospitals, universities, scouting organisations and sports clubs. Such segregation means that many people have little or no personal contact with members of other pillars. The Netherlands had at least three pillars, namely Protestant , Catholic and social-democratic . Pillarisation

1825-512: The Alliance Party , Green Party and People Before Profit exist, and a growing number of people who identify and vote as "other," rather than for "Catholic" or "Protestant" identities, as well as growing numbers of atheists ; but elections are often derided as a " sectarian head-count," with growing Protestant anxiety over the possibility of a Catholic majority. Historically, other non-sectarian political parties also operated, most notably

1898-420: The 1999–2003 " Rainbow Coalition " of Guy Verhofstadt was often rendered with the terms of pillarisation. The political movements that appeared in the late 20th century (such as Vlaams Blok , now Vlaams Belang ; Groen! ; and N-VA ) did not attempt to build pillars. Pillarisation was visible even in everyday social organisations such as musical ensembles, sport clubs, recreational facilities, etc. Weakened in

1971-421: The 21st century: public television , for instance, is still divided among several organisations, instead of being one organisation. The Netherlands has both public and religious schools , a divide which is also inherited from pillarisation. Moreover, some communities continue to behave as small "pillars" as of 2014 , although rather than forming the structure of society (a pillar), this currently moves them outside

2044-759: The Catholic KVP to form the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). They first participated in the 1977 general elections . In 1976, the Catholic trade union Nederlands Katholiek Vakverbond  [ nl ] (NKV) started to cooperate with the trade union of the Socialist pillar (NVV), to merge into the Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) in 1982. The pillarisation of society has not fully disappeared, and many remnants can still be seen in

2117-582: The Catholic resistance movement Christofoor ) were united in the aim to renew the political system ( doorbraak , "breakthrough"). But pillarisation was ingrained in Dutch society, and could not be defeated that easily. In order to force this breakthrough, the socialist Social Democratic Workers' Party , the left-liberal VDB and the Christian-socialist CDU united to form the PvdA , a progressive party, which

2190-423: The Dutch banking sector was devastated by a financial crisis in the early 1920s, these local banks survived largely unscathed. The religious backgrounds found their way to their organisational structures, as well; Boerenleenbank was highly centralised, while Raiffeisen-Bank promoted local autonomy . By 1940, the two organisations cooperated with each other, albeit on a limited scale. Three major developments caused

2263-898: The Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA). This is in connection with their investigations into Rabobank's submission procedures with regard to the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate ( Euribor ) in the past. Rabobank agreed to pay settlement amounts to OM, FCA, CFTC and DOJ totalling approximately EUR 774 million. Of this, 70 million euros went to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service. In return, no criminal investigation followed. The Dutch Central Bank also took measures. CEO Piet Moerland resigned early. In February 2018, Rabobank reached

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2336-615: The Mechanics name. Rabobank will continue to do business in North America related to Food and Agriculture based-lending under its subsidiary Rabo AgriFinance. In June 2012, rating agency Moody's downgraded Rabobank's to Aa2 (previously Aaa), with a negative outlook. Due to a new rating methodology in November 2011 by rating agency Standard & Poor's , the credit status was downgraded two steps from AAA to AA. In November 2014, S&P lowered

2409-410: The Netherlands and abroad. Rabobank is traditionally a farmers' bank and it still holds an 85% to 90% market share in the agrarian sector in the Netherlands. Throughout the years, the company has also started targeting small and medium-sized companies. By the mid 1970s the market share in this sector reached some 30% and currently amounts to approximately 40%. In 1987, an important milestone was reached;

2482-609: The Netherlands or in Belgium the main parties have partly to this day, "black" and "red" parallel organizations, e.g. B. at touring clubs (ÖAMTC vs. ARBÖ), factions inside the Austrian Trade Union Federation (FCG vs. FSG vs. Freiheitlichen Arbeitnehmer (FPÖ)) or sports associations (Sportunion vs. ASKÖ). A similar phenomena existed during the First Italian Republic . There are multiple trade unions: Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions (CISL) which

2555-453: The Netherlands was favoured by the emancipation of working- and lower-middle classes on the one hand, and the execution of elite control on the other hand. The emancipation of the working class led to the establishment of socialist parties, trade unions, media, cooperative shops and collectively organised leisure activities. This "full care" of the socialist movement for its members existed similarly in other European countries. The emancipation of

2628-499: The Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Germany offering savings accounts , term deposits and managed funds . In Belgium it is known as Rabobank.be. RaboDirect Ireland was an online savings bank. In 2009, RaboDirect ran the marketing campaign that included TV commercials which featured staff confessing truths about themselves, and a microsite called Truthbank where customers could "confess" their own truths. RaboDirect

2701-544: The Socialist pillar, which mainly consisted of industrial workers , were nearly as tightly knit. The Protestant ( hervormd ) Christian Historical Union (CHU) (formed in 1908) did not organise a pillar of its own but linked to the Protestant pillar shaped by the ARP. People who were not associated with one of these pillars, mainly middle- and upper-class latitudinarian Protestants and atheists, arguably set up their own pillar:

2774-733: The acquisition of Mid-State Bank & Trust on May 1, 2007, which allows Rabo to expand its services to the Central Coast region of California , United States. In 2010, it also acquired Pacific State Bank, expanding into the Central Valley of California . Utrecht-America Holdings, Inc. and Rabobank N.A. operate as subsidiaries of the Rabobank Group in the United States. In 2019, it was announced that Rabobank sold its American retail business to Mechanics Bank , with all Rabobank branches taking

2847-563: The acronym of SPÖ). This de facto two-party system collapsed with the elections of 1999 , which resulted in the joining of the national-conservative Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), whose political marginalisation and that of its predecessor, the Federation of Independents (VdU), was the main reason for the establishment of the Proporz policy, because of their pro-German , far right and individualist views. The Proporz system arose out of

2920-477: The bank. Research links Rabobank's investments to the loss of approximately 390,000 ha of Amazon or Cerrado forest (2000–2022). Rabobank has been placed on the list of major polluters of the Dutch NGO Milieudefensie because the bank would have invested more than 1.4 billion euros in companies involved in deforestation in the period from 2015 to 2022. Rabobank states that it wants to contribute to

2993-428: The conservative and often strongly religious lower-middle class fostered the emergence of the Protestant pillar. While the Dutch bourgeoisie was rather liberal and adhered to "enlightened" Protestantism, a large part of the lower-middle class embraced a more orthodox Calvinist theology, as taught by preacher and politician Abraham Kuyper. In 1866 Kuyper founded the gereformeerd ("reformed") current of Protestantism; it

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3066-437: The current situation, many major social organisations (trade unions, cooperatives, etc.) still strictly follow the lines of pillars though. The following table is limited to the most important institutions and it shows the current division of everyone by the three ethnic groups. The Austrian version of Verzuiling is the long-standing Proporz doctrine (a hypocorism for Proportionalität , German for 'proportionality'). This

3139-771: The first two participants, settling for $ 460 million and $ 1,500 million respectively. RBS was fined $ 612 million. On 29 october 2013 was published that the Rabobank had reached an agreement with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch Justice Department (OM), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and

3212-498: The group Nieuw Links  [ nl ] (New Left) in PvdA. Because of this and of increased mobility, many people could see that people from the other pillars were not that different from themselves. Increased wealth and education made people independent of many of the pillarised institutions , and young people did not want to be associated with these organisations anymore. In 1973, two main Protestant parties, ARP and CHU, merged with

3285-583: The interest on short-term loans that they charge each other. This concerns short-term interest periods from 1 day to 1 year. When it emerged that some banks had deliberately stated this interest rate too high or too low since 1991, the Libor scandal was born. Because the Libor interest rate is also used in the United States to calculate the price of derivatives, American regulators also took action. Barclays and UBS were

3358-624: The liberal or "general" pillar. Ties between general organisations were much weaker than within the other three pillars. Liberals rejected the voluntary segregation of the society, and denied the existence of a "liberal pillar". The political parties usually associated with this group were the Free-minded Democratic League (VDB) and Liberal State Party (LSP). Communists , humanists , and ultra-orthodox Protestant fundamentalists also set up similar organisations; however, such groups were much smaller. The development of pillarisation in

3431-441: The local banks maintain a required level of prudence and professionalism while selling financial products. This has grown to be especially important in view of international standards such as Sarbanes–Oxley Act , Basel II and IFRS . This leads to a rather unusual phenomenon within international business: the mother companies and the much larger daughter are essentially forced to coexist in order to function properly. This has led to

3504-483: The mainstream of society. Members of the Reformed Churches (liberated) have their own (primary and secondary) schools, their own national newspaper, and some other organisations, such as a labour union. Members of several pietist Reformed Churches have also founded their own schools, newspaper and political party. Increasingly, Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands are also using the legal possibilities created for

3577-406: The manipulation of LIBOR currency rates worldwide. Chief Executive Piet Moerland resigned immediately as a result. In December 2015, Rabobank announced to cut 9,000 jobs by 2018 (3,000 jobs by the end of 2016) and almost a fifth of its current workforce. The policy was to comply with the tougher Basel IV rulebook. By 2019, Rabobank had offices in 38 countries. The Rabobank Group consists of

3650-501: The nation. As a result, Catholics, Liberals, and Socialists were further subdivided into ethnolinguistic lines: Flemish/Dutch, Walloon/French, and German. The pillar system remained to be the primordial societal dividing force much longer than it was in the Netherlands. Only near the end of the Cold War did it begin to lose importance, at least at the individual level, and to this day it continues to influence Belgian society. For example, even

3723-465: The need for balanced, consensual governance in the early years of Austria's second republic. At that time, the country was consumed in an effort to rebuild the country after the devastation of World War II. Thus, the doctrine of Proporz is intimately linked to the idea of the grand coalition, in which the major political parties, in the case of post-war Austria the SPÖ and the ÖVP, share in the government. Like in

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3796-535: The negative consequences of mass livestock farming and economies of scale. Extinction Rebellion and Greenpeace issued an ultimatum to Rabobank in 2023 to stop financing industrial agriculture, to which the bank did not respond. A mass protest followed in which activists blocked the head office in Utrecht. Pillarisation Pillarisation (a calque from the Dutch : verzuiling [vɛrˈzœylɪŋ] )

3869-475: The nitrogen crisis. The bank refused loans to projects with alternative agricultural methods, which led to forced expansion of Dutch livestock farms. Only about 3% of the outstanding 30 billion in the agricultural sector belongs to organically operating companies, farmers receive little or no support in the transition to more sustainable agriculture and livestock farming. Rabobank still invests in expensive techniques, not in solving but in technically mitigating

3942-586: The northern Netherlands in the 1990s. In 2011, the bank was in dire straits, suffering a loss of € 350 million, partly as a result of an extra write-down on the interest in Van Lanschot and loan losses. Van Lanschot's planned sales plans were not realised. The solvency ratios fell below the established standards. The BIS ratio fell to 6.1%, which is far below the standard of 8% and the Tier1 ratio more than halved to 4.2%. This Dutch bank or insurance-related article

4015-706: The pillarised structure of society, by setting up their own schools. Apart from having no Protestant pillar due that group's small numbers, pillarisation in Belgium was very similar to that in Netherlands. There was also no "general" pillar, but a politically well-organised liberal pillar. In 1911, the British sociologist Seebohm Rowntree noted that in Belgium: There is extraordinarily little social intercourse between Catholics and Liberals, and practically none between Catholics and Socialists. Politics enter into almost every phase of social activity and philanthropic effort, and it

4088-545: The positive publicity from Rabobank, there is criticism from society about its role in the Dutch nitrogen crisis. For example, the World Wildlife Fund (NL) wrote in an open letter that Rabobank must take its responsibility in realizing an agricultural transition to improve nature, the living environment and the agricultural sector. The House of Representatives asked the cabinet in a motion to investigate whether banks such as Rabobank could be forced to contribute to solving

4161-473: The primary international focus of the Rabobank Group. Rabobank is the second-largest bank in the Netherlands in terms of total assets. In terms of Tier 1 capital , the organisation is among the 50 largest financial institutions in the world. As of 2022, total assets amount to €628 billion with a net profit of €2.7 billion. Rabobank has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as

4234-437: The rating from AA− to A+ with a negative outlook. Rating agency Fitch rates the credit status of the bank AA−, with a negative outlook. As per the new strategy, Rabobank is planning to exit some markets. In September 2014, Rabobank sold Bank BGZ to BNP Paribas for $ 1.39 billion. Unlike most major banks, Rabobank's central organisation was originally a subsidiary of the local branches. However, new banking regulations made

4307-414: The savings bank and replaced RaboPlus with RaboDirect in these countries. In 2014, Rabobank worked with Vasco, now OneSpan , to create a new online authentication system using QR codes. Rabobank purchased Australian company Lend Lease Agro Business in 2003. In 2008, it expanded its operations in Indonesia by buying two retail banks, Bank Haga and Bank Hagakita. In the United States , Rabobank completed

4380-489: The sustainable development of society in an economic, social and ecological sense. This is enshrined, among other things, in the Code of Conduct and in general external and internal principles for the provision of services. Corporate social responsibility is a basic principle in Rabobank's core activities. Rabobank continues to finance global meat and dairy corporations and thus drives climate change and deforestation. In contrast to

4453-418: The total outstanding loans in sectors other than agriculture exceeded those in the agricultural sector for the first time. By 2005 the agricultural credits amounted to some 8% of total outstanding credit. Rabobank also holds some 40% of the total outstanding sums on Dutch savings accounts and they account for approximately 30% of all private consumer mortgages in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, Rabobank

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4526-472: Was a cooperative of 22 local banks. These two existed side by side for three-quarters of a century despite their obvious similarities. The reasons for this owed in part to legal disagreements. The most important difference, however, was cultural. The Eindhoven-based Boerenleenbank had a decidedly Catholic signature while the Raiffeisen-Bank had a Protestant background. In the past the Netherlands underwent

4599-455: Was both more conservative and more popular with ordinary people than the established Protestant churches in the Netherlands. Kuyper's worldview asserted the principle of "sphere sovereignty", rejecting both ecclesiasticism (rule of the Church over all parts of the society) and statist secularism (rule of the state over all parts of the society). He argued that each had its own sphere in which the other

4672-541: Was close Christian Democracy (DC), Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), close to Italian Communist Party (PCI), General Labour Union , allied to the Italian Social Movement (MSI) and the Italian Labour Union which had ties Italian Republican Party (PRI) and Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). The state-owned public broadcaster RAI was split between the parties too. Rai 1

4745-509: Was confronted with the abject poverty of the farmers and their families. He tried to alleviate this need through charitable aid , but realised that self-reliance had more potential in the long run, and thus converted his charitable foundation into a farmers' bank in 1864. In doing so he created the Darlehnskassen-Verein , which collected the savings of countryside dwellers and provided enterprising farmers with loans. This model found

4818-580: Was first only within the politics of the second Austrian republic , but later degenerated into a neo-corporatist system of patronage and nepotism pervading many aspects of Austrian life. The Proporz was created, developed and promoted by the two mainstream parties, the Catholic Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the Social-Democratic Socialist Party of Austria (since 1991 Social Democratic Party of Austria , both names with

4891-633: Was launched in February 2006 and was at the time only bank in New Zealand whose parent company was rated AAA by Standard & Poor's (the credit rating has since been downgraded and as of October 2015 is A). On 23 May 2007, Rabobank opened a RaboPlus Internet bank in Australia. On 20 May 2010, the services were rebranded to RaboDirect. RaboDirect is the major partner of the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby side. By 2011 over $ 6 billion had been gathered in deposits. On 20 June 2012, Rabobank opened

4964-422: Was not to interfere. In 1879, he founded the ARP as the political wing of his religious movement and the core of the Protestant pillar. At the same time, new and old elites tried to maintain their control over the newly emancipated social groups. For instance, the Catholic clergy set up confessional unions to prevent Catholic workers from joining socialist unions. One reason behind the formation of Christian parties

5037-446: Was open to all people. The new party did not, however, gain enough support under Catholics or Reformed, and the PvdA became encapsulated in the socialist pillar. Television broadcasting was also pillarised, but everyone watched the same broadcasts nonetheless, since initially only one channel was available in the Netherlands in the 1950s. During the 1960s the pillars largely broke down, particularly under political criticism from D66 and

5110-427: Was originally initiated by Abraham Kuyper and his Christian Democratic and neo-Calvinist ( gereformeerd ) Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) in the late 19th century; it was part of its philosophy of sphere sovereignty . The Catholic pillar had the highest degree of organisation because Catholic clergy promoted the organisation of Catholics in confessional institutions. Yet the conservative Protestant pillar and

5183-528: Was said to be close to DC, Rai 2 was said to be close to PSI and Rai 3 to PCI. The term "pillarisation" has also been used to describe segregation of the two main ethnoreligious groups in Northern Ireland , especially between the foundation of Northern Ireland (1922) and the end of The Troubles (1969–1998); segregation and pillarisation persist but are declining. A difference in Northern Ireland

5256-531: Was the sponsor of rugby union 's Pro12 from the 2011-12 season until 2013–14 , it featured teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The deal was announced in June 2011, during which time the league was known as the RaboDirect Pro12. On 21 February RaboDirect announced that it would be closing down its Irish operations from 16 May 2018, with the loss of 31 jobs. RaboDirect, originally known as RaboPlus,

5329-481: Was to counter the feared rise of left-wing mass parties. The following table shows the most important institutions by pillar: After World War II (during which even the Dutch resistance was pillarised) liberals and socialists, but also Protestants and Catholics, began to doubt the pillarised system. They founded a unity movement, the People's Movement Nederlandse Volksbeweging . Progressives of all pillars (including

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