traded as euronext kbc luxse kbc industry financial services founded 1985 headquarters brussels belgium key people thomas leysen chairman johan thijs ceo luc popelier cfo products banking and insurance revenue 8.378 billion 2010 1 profit 1.860 billion 2010 1 aum 208.81 billion end 2010 1 total assets 320.82 billion end 2010 1 total equity 18.67 billion end 2010 1 number of employees 52 950 fte end 2010 1 website www.kbc.com kbc bank n.v. is a belgian universal multi channel bank focusing on private clients and small and medium sized enterprises . besides retail banking insurance and asset management activities in collaboration with sister companies kbc insurance nv and kbc asset management nv kbc is active in european debt capital markets domestic cash equity markets and in the field of corporate banking leasing factoring reinsurance private equity and project and trade finance in belgium central and eastern europe and elsewhere mainly in europe . kbc is an acronym for kredietbank abb insurance cera bank . the parent company kbc group n.v. is one of the major companies and the second largest bancassurer in belgium . it is the 18th largest bank in europe by market capitalisation and a major financial player in central and eastern europe employing some 51 000 staff worldwide of which 31 000 in central and eastern europe and russia and serving 11 million customers worldwide some 8 million in central and eastern europe . the group is controlled by a syndicate of core shareholders but has a free float of some 41 % . in the core shareholders kbc ancora controls 23 % mrbb part of the flemish farmers association controls around 13 % cera the largest cooperative in wallonia 7 % and a group of industrialist families controls another 11 % . 1 the free float was chiefly held by a large variety of international institutional investors close to 45 % uk or us based as of the end of 2010 . its shares are traded on the euronext exchange in brussels and the luxembourg stock exchange . the group s overall aim is to be an independent medium sized provider of bancassurance for private clients and enterprises in selected european countries with a focus on asset management and in financial markets . contents 1 history 2 structure and main subsidiaries 3 recent news 3.1 kbc bank nv 3.2 kredietbank sa luxembourgeoise european private bankers kbl 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the catholic volksbank van leuven founded in 1889 was one of the earliest predecessors of the kbc bank . another predecessor was the bremer vorschussverein founded in 1889 and changed later into bankverein bremen ag . in 1935 the banks algemeene bankvereeniging and volksbank van leuven merged with the bank voor handel en nijverheid to create the kredietbank . the kredietbank would be the only belgian financial institution under flemish control which would survive the financial crisis of the great depression of the 1930s . fernand collin who became president in 1938 conceived the business strategy which would lead to the growth of the bank . he defined the kredietbank as an independent bank with a decidedly flemish character which would be an instrument to further flemish economic growth . during world war ii the bank would be able to expand its activities and grow its deposits from the flemish middle class . after the war because of the economic recovery the kredietbank now the third largest bank in belgium was able to increase the number of operating branches in flanders . the postwar growth strategy of the bank emphasized foreign expansion and the development of portfolio management services for investors . the bank expanded into luxembourg in 1949 with the kredietbank s.a. luxembourgeoise and into wallonia with the establishment of the cr dit g n ral de belgique in 1961 . the kredietbank also expanded into belgian congo . it established a branch in l opoldville in 1952 . then in 1954 it acquired banque congolaise pour l industrie le commerce et l agriculture and renamed it kredietbank congo 2 ultimately it had four branches one each in l opoldville bukavu elizabethville and stanleyville . due the situation emerging after the independence of belgian congo in 1960 the bank discontinued its congolese operations in 1966 . in the sixties driven by increasing competition the bank worked on the expansion of its branch network and improvement of consumer services . in 1966 the bank began building a foreign correspondent network and the establishment of foreign branches in new york london the cayman islands and a subsidiary in geneva the kredietbank suisse s.a. . in 1970 together with six other european institutions kredietbank established the inter alpha group of banks . the kredietbank n.v. bruxelles acquired the main part of the shares from the bankverein bremen ag since 1982 . the branch in bremen was renamed to kredietbank bankverein ag in 1990 . 3 in 1998 the kredietbank merged with two financial institutions originating from the boerenbond vlaanderen nl e belgian catholic farmers association abb insurance assurances du boerenbond belge and cera centrale raiffeisenkas bank to form the kbc bank and insurance holding company . since then the group has significantly expanded its activities chiefly in central and eastern europe . in 2005 kbc set another milestone by merging with its parent company almanij and changing its name to kbc groep nv nl . over the past decade kbc has built up a strong presence in many of the countries that joined the eu on 1 may 2004 poland hungary the czech and slovak republics by investing some 7.4 billion euros in acquisitions . more recently 2007 kbc has made acquisitions in bulgaria dzi insurance dzi invest and eibank romania kbc securities romania romstal leasing and ink insurance broker russia absolut bank serbia kbc banka and senzal now kbc securities ad beograd hipobroker now kbc broker and bastion now kbc securities corporate finance and slovakia istrobanka . after receiving government support during the financial crisis the bank embarked on a divestment programme to satisfy the requirements of the european commission . as such it has sold or is planning to sell several subsidiaries such as centea fidea kredyt bank adb kbc deutschland and kbl epb krediet bank luxembourgeoise its network of european private banking subsidiaries . structure and main subsidiaries edit kbc group nv is the direct parent company of kbc bank nv kbc insurance nv kbc asset management nv kredietbank sa luxembourgeoise valuesource technologies chennai india all other kbc group companies are direct or indirect subsidiaries of these . recent news edit in september 2013 kbc agreed the sale of its german unit kbc deutschland to several investors including affiliates of teacher retirement system of texas apollo global management apollo commercial real estate finance inc and grovepoint capital . 4 kbc bank nv edit kbc bank is the main subsidiary . its first home market is belgium where it is one of the top three banks with a 20 25 % market share and over three million customers counting the customers of the subsidiaries in belgium . its second home market is central europe served via subsidiaries and investments in the czech republic sob slovakia sob hungary k & h bank poland kredyt bank and slovenia nova ljubljanska banka . with effect from july 2008 kbc bank has acquired another small slovak bank istrobanka . 5 in all of these countries except poland kbc bank is a top 4 player by market share . it also has a substantial presence in ireland through its subsidiary kbc bank ireland formerly iib bank which is a major player in both the corporate and residential mortgage markets there . in all kbc bank has established a presence in some thirty countries around the globe . in 2007 kbc expanded its presence to eastern europe through the acquisition of dzi insurance and cibank in bulgaria . kbc project finance is a subsidiary of kbc bank and has been an active player in the non recourse financing of projects since the early 1990s . headquartered in dublin it also has professionals based in london brussels new york hong kong and sydney . its main business lines are energy and infrastructure . this includes financing projects in sectors such as the oil & gas industry power renewable energy and public private partnership . it has a portfolio in excess of us 5bn financing approximately 250 projects worldwide . kbc bank also has investment banking operations in europe us and asia . a specialist arm called kbc financial products operates primarily in global convertible bonds ; its branch in japan is called kbc securities japan which specialises in secondary equity broking convertible bonds warrants and equity derivatives . kredietbank sa luxembourgeoise european private bankers kbl edit kbl european private bankers is no longer a subsidiary of kbc since a sale was agreed to precision capital for a reported 1.05 billion . see also edit companies portal paul borghgraef fernand collin luc debaillie frank donck alain tytgadt jozef van waeyenberge remi vermeiren former president philippe vlerick references edit a b c d e f g annual report 2010 pdf . kbc group . retrieved 22 april 2011 . edouard mambu ma khenzu . 2006 . a modern history of monetary and financial systems of congo 1885 1995 . lewiston edward mellan . history of the german branch . kbcbank.de . retrieved 2013 04 11 . philip blenkinsop 24 september 2013 . kbc sells german unit to several investors . reuters . istrobanka bought by sob owner the slovak spectator . spectator.sk . retrieved 2013 04 11 . van der wee herman and van der wee verbreyt monique people make history the kredietbank and the economic rise of flanders 1935 1985 brussels kredietbank 1985 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to kbc . official website v t e bel20 companies of belgium ackermans & van haaren ageas anheuser busch inbev befimmo sicafi bekaert bpost cofinimmo colruyt group delhaize group delta lloyd d ieteren elia engie gbl kbc groep proximus group solvay telenet group ucb umicore v t e luxx index companies of luxembourg aperam arcelormittal brederode luxempart reinet investments rtl group ses socfinaf socfinasia v t e investment banks bank divisions of universal banks bulge bracket bank of america merrill lynch barclays citi institutional clients group credit suisse deutsche bank corporate and investment bank j.p. morgan & co. j.p. morgan cazenove ubs investment bank other berenberg bank bmo capital markets boc international bnp paribas corporate & institutional banking brown shipley cibc world markets citic securities clsa commerzbank corporates & markets cr dit agricole corporate and investment bank daiwa securities capital markets everbank world markets harris williams & co. hsbc global banking and markets ing commercial banking is investment kbc bank korea development bank daewoo securities lloyds bank corporate markets mitsubishi ufj securities mizuho corporate bank natixis nomura securities rbc capital markets rbs markets & international banking sberbank cib soci t g n rale corporate & investment bank standard chartered td securities unicredit corporate & investment banking vtb capital wells fargo securities independents bulge bracket goldman sachs morgan stanley other allen & company blackstone group brewin dolphin btg pactual centerview partners china international capital corporation close brothers group evercore partners everbright fbr capital markets galaxy greenhill & co. haitong securities houlihan lokey investec jefferies keefe bruyette & woods lazard macquarie group mediobanca moelis & company n m rothschild & sons oppenheimer & co. perella weinberg partners piper jaffray raymond james financial renaissance capital roth capital partners salam investment ltd. sandler o neill and partners stifel nicolaus stone key partners william blair & company category list v t e members of euro banking association austria allgemeine sparkasse oberosterreich bank f r tirol und vorarlberg ag bks bank ag erste group bank ag oberbank ag oesterreichische nationalbank raiffeisen zentralbank sterreich ag raiffeisenlandesbank ober sterreich ag raiffeisen landesbank tirol ag steierm rkische bank und sparkassen ag belgium dexia bank nv