Ruud Nijs appointed new Director of CSR
3-9-2008 | Other news
Ruud Nijs (48) has been appointed head of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Department at Rabobank Nederland. He will succeed Bart Jan Krouwel who will step down in January upon reaching the legal age of retirement.
R.W.M. (Ruud) Nijs is currently Director of Financial Logistics. He will transfer internally to the Corporate Social Responsibility Department on 1 October 2008. Mr Nijs will subsequently assume Bart Jan Krouwel’s position and responsibilities as Head of the CSR Departmenteffective 1 January 2009. Mr Krouwel will continue to be associated with Rabobank in the role of adviser.
Attracting and alluring
Nijs explains his vision for the CSR Department, "Bart Jan Krouwel is a pioneer in the field of corporate social responsibility and has succeeded in placing this issue on the map in the financial world. My aim is to link CSR even more effectively to the business, our clients and Rabobank itself."
Nijs’ current position has enabled him to become familiar with a diverse range of sustainability dossiers within the bank over the past several years. "Corporate Social Responsibility must come from the heart and be based on integrity. While you cannot make CSR mandatory, as a bank we still have scope for achieving much more in this area by making it more attracting and alluring."
Nijs joined the Rabobank Group in 2003 and has held various positions within the organisation including management posts at Corporate Clients Product Management and Corporate Insurance. He was responsible for setting up the Financial Logistics business line at Rabobank International Corporate Clients four years ago. In this role he served as an ‘enterprising banker’ who operated in close contact with clients. Prior to joining Rabobank, Mr Nijs worked for more than 12 years at ABN Amro, two years at the NASDAQ-listed software house HNC Software and owned his own company.