Interview transcript: Randolph Koppa, President, Trade and Development Bank, Part 1
Randolph Koppa, president of Trade and Development Bank discusses the early days of his international banking career, his return to Asia and coming to Mongolia. July 18, 2012 | Randolph Koppa1. The early days Emmanuel Daniel (ED): How has your career evolved so far, and where were you before this? Randolp Koppa (RK): This is the twelfth country outside the United States that I have worked in, in a forty-five year career. I was with Bank of America back in the day and trained in San Francisco. I studied international relations and languages, joined an international training programme, and was subsequently assigned to Singapore from 1968 to 1970. I studied German, French, Spanish and Russian and initially wanted to go to Europe, but they needed me in South East Asia. While I was in Chicago in 1970, I was offered a job at the Continental Bank in Illinois. The bank sent me to Greece to establish a branch in 1971, and I was there for about three and a half years. Then I became a branch manager in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and was there for two years. After that I was ready to go back to the US. I took a sabbatical and joined a small bank in Wisconsin. But after six months, I couldn’t take it, and went back to Continental Bank in Chicago. I ran the international training programme while I was there. After a while, I itched to travel and was sent to Italy as a branch manager for Continental Bank in Milan, from 1978 to 1981. Then, I returned to Chicago. A year later, Continental Bank got in trouble and I was head-hunted to join First Bank, in Minnesota, as president. It is now called US Bank. I found it very cosmopolitan there. Three years later, I was transferred to Minneapolis and St Paul and was there for another three years until the bank met with trouble and had to downsize. I then joined Amerbank in Poland as its president. It was a joint venture bank between the Poles and the Americans and was officially opened in May 1991. Soon after, there was a fight over control of the bank and the board was ousted. I then left to joi... Please login to read the complete article. If you already have an account, you can login now or subscribe/register.
Categories: Branch Banking, Retail BankingBranch Banking,retail, Branch Banking,Retail Banking, Keywords:Mongolia, Randolph Koppa, Trade And Development Bank, Bank Of America, Continental Bank, US Bank, ING Bank, Duna Bank, Citibank, Corporate Finance Mongolia, Randolph Koppa, Trade and Development Bank, Bank of America, Continental Bank, US Bank, ING Bank, Duna Bank, Citibank, Corporate Finance
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