After having worked at the Embassy of Peru in The Netherlands for twenty years -with great pleasure I must say-, I realized that I shouldn’t wait any longer to pursue this goal. My ideal new work environment was a Dutch organization with an international perspective and that was engaged in developing countries, so FMO was already on my radar. When the opportunity arose I immediately applied for a vacancy. I started in 2004 as Secretary in the Human Resources department which at that time managed the HR affairs of FMO’s 200 staff employees– FMO has since more than doubled in size.
I felt very welcome at FMO. The more I learned about the projects in the private sector and the positive impact on so many people and communities, the more enthusiastic about my work I became. After some years at HR, I moved to work for the Latin America & Caribbean region where I stayed until FMO reorganised to have a sectoral focus, and in 2009 I joined the Financial Institutions team. This new structure provided more specialized knowledge and greater efficiency. In this dynamic department I worked as Coordinating Secretary, supporting the Director and the Latin America & the Caribbean team. Coming from Peru I really identified with both my team and our customers. It was also very special for me to meet a large group of our clients from the four regions, when they came to The Netherlands to participate in our first “Future of Banking” conference.
After an extensive experience in management support I felt the need to find new challenges. This happens to be one of the attractive aspects of working at FMO, where an employee can find opportunities to keep learning and developing. So in 2013 I became a Compliance Administrator. I work for the Agribusiness department which is part of the Investment directorate. Our focus lies on sustainable agribusiness investment opportunities with a high development impact. Our aim is to become a substantive FMO focus sector with a strong Agribusiness network. In my new role, I assist my colleagues Investment Officers with the ’Know Your Customer process’. For a bank like FMO, our reputation is extremely important. In order to comply with International anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations and national anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws, FMO has developed and implemented comprehensive ‘Know Your Customer’ policies, procedures and controls. Our clients are cooperative providing us with the required information and documentation not only at the beginning of the relationship but also during the relationship.
The interaction with my colleagues, whom I find very inspiring professionals and the contact with our Agribusiness clients, located in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America are important key components of my job. I feel very lucky that I’m part of this incredible organization where I am delighted to work with motivated professionals with different backgrounds, specialisations and nationalities, but with a clear common mission to empower entrepreneurs to build a better world.