The Japan Times WORLD EYE REPORTS GERMANY'S RHINE-MAIN REGION
©THE JAPAN TIMES	Thursday, October 25, 2001

Financial Germany's energetic visionary German banker Uwe Zimpelmann is on a mission. As a managing director of Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, he has overseen its breakaway from the staid and conservative reins of the German financial sector and its subsequent emergence as the prime mover for development in the country's agricultural sector.

In the last 15 years, Zimpelmann has seen the bank's total assets surge from about 31.2 billion dollars (34.1 billion euro) in 1996 to 47.1 billion dollars (51.4 billion euro) in 2000. His visionary approach of establishing an open esprit de corps within the organization - not very common in the German financial sector - has been pointed out as responsible for much of this growth. Founded in 1949 as an institution under public law, Rentenbank was created as a central refinancing institution. Its goal was to further develop the agricultural sector of what was then West Germany. A central refinancing institute, the bank has carried out its lending activity mainly through other banks. In principle, Rentenbank can refinance all banks operating in Germany and the European Union.

Uwe Zimpelmann: man on a mission.

In over its 50 years of existence, the bank has also acted as a beacon of stability for the food and agricultural industry through its funding of a wide range of projects. Its loans, which have to be principally channeled through other banks, are granted in favor of producers in agriculture and business in the food industry.

"Through our loan programs we have acted as a sort of engine to the agriculture industry," explains Zimpelmann. "It is through our profits that we are able to subsidize these loans and it allows for continued progression within the industry. This was very evident during the mad cow scare in Europe, where a lot of our projects helped keep things from falling apart."

"The reason for our success in the international market has always been the high quality of our credit and the transparency of our business," he continues. "If you look at our credit rating and the quality of our assets you will see that we have never had any loan losses. Our team has been able to achieve tremendous results. We have risen to the challenge and changed Rentenbank from a small agricultural bank operating on a nationwide basis to an internationally accepted bond issuer that has racked in international recognition."