KBC Bank already meets 9% Core Tier-1 threshol...

Regulated information* - 8 December 2011 (06.00 p.m. CET)

KBC  Bank notes the  announcements made today  by the European Banking Authority
and National Bank of Belgium, which demonstrate that KBC Bank (on a consolidated
level) already meets 9% Core Tier-1 threshold.


The capital exercise proposed by the EBA and agreed by the Council on 26 October
2011 requires  banks  to  strengthen  their  capital  positions by building up a
temporary  capital buffer  against sovereign  debt exposures  to reflect current
market prices. In addition, it requires them to establish a buffer such that the
Core  Tier 1 capital ratio  reaches a level  of 9% by the  end of June 2012. The
amount  of any  final capital  shortfall identified  is based on September 2011
figures. The amount of the sovereign capital buffer will not be revised.

71 banks across Europe, including KBC Bank, were subject to the capital exercise
whose  objective is  to create  an exceptional  and temporary  capital buffer to
address  current market concerns  over sovereign risk  and other residual credit
risk  related to  the current  difficult market  environment. This  buffer would
explicitly  not  be  designed  to  cover  losses  in sovereigns but to provide a
reassurance  to markets about banks' ability to  withstand a range of shocks and
still maintain adequate capital.

Following completion of the capital exercise conducted by the European Banking
Authority, in close cooperation with the National Bank of Belgium, the exercise
has determined that KBC Bank already meets the 9% Core Tier 1 ratio after the
removal of the prudential filters on sovereign assets in the Available-for-Sale
portfolio and prudent valuation of sovereign debt in the Held-to-Maturity and
Loans and receivables portfolios, reflecting market prices at end September. KBC
Bank will continue to ensure that appropriate capital levels are maintained.

Jan Vanhevel, KBC Group CEO welcomed today's results as follows: 'KBC is
satisfied that the outcome of the capital exercise proves that KBC already today
meets these temporary solvency requirements. This should also offer comfort to
all stakeholders placing their trust in our institution.
KBC is a fundamentally sound group with strong fundamentals: a healthy customer-
driven bancassurance business model, a robust liquidity position supported by a
very solid and loyal customer deposit base in our core markets of Belgium and
Central Europe and a comfortable solvency that enables us to continue to
increase lending to our customers and actively support the communities and
economies we are active in, even in the tough times we are in.'

Notes to editors:

The detailed results of the capital exercise as well as information on KBC
Bank's credit exposures and exposures to central and local governments are
provided in the accompanying disclosure tables based on the common format
provided by the EBA:

https://multimediafiles.kbcgroup.eu/ng/published/KBCCOM/PDF/COM_RVK_pdf_tabel_st
ress_test_dec_2011.pdf


The methodology underlying the capital exercise was outlined by the EBA prior to
its announcement to ensure consistency across all banks in the EU banking system
involved in the exercise. For more details see the EBA website:


http://www.eba.europa.eu.
The capital exercise was carried out based on the EBA common methodology and key
common assumptions (e.g. sovereign buffer determined based on balance sheet and
market prices at end of 3(rd) quarter) as published in the EBA Methodological
note.
Therefore, the information is provided only for comparison purposes and should
not in any way be directly compared to bank's other published information.

Contact details:

- Wim Allegaert, General Manager, Investor Relations, KBC Group
Tel [phone] [e-mail]

- Viviane Huybrecht, General Manager, Group Communication/Spokesperson, KBC
Group
Tel [phone]  [e-mail]



KBC (www.kbc.com) is a bancassurer that focuses on its home markets of Belgium
and Central and Eastern Europe. Its head office is located in Brussels
(Belgium), the heart of Europe. The group employs some 50 000 full-time staff
and caters for around 12 million customers. KBC Group NV is listed on NYSE
Euronext Brussels (ticker symbol 'KBC').

KBC's press releases are available at www.kbc.com. Follow KBC on
www.twitter.com/kbc_group.





* This news item contains information that is subject to the transparency
regulations for listed companies.




PR 08122011: 


http://hugin.info/133947/R/1570050/488146.pdf




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