By Fiona RotherhamHenry van der Heyden has been appointed chairman of Rabobank New Zealand Limited, replacing John Palmer who has retired from the board. Van der Heyden, the former chairman of Fonterra Cooperative Group, has been a director of the bank since 2012. Palmer's director seat will be filled by Scales Group managing director Andy Borland, the bank said in a statement. Wiebe Drajer, chairman of the International Rabobank Group, said the bank was fortunate to have someone of van der Heyden's calibre take over the chairmanship of its New Zealand operations. "Very low prices for an extended period would likely increase dairy farm loan defaults and the potential for higher loan loss provisions in the bank's dairy portfolio," it said.

Source: New Zealand Herald November 17, 2016 04:01 UTC