New appointments to the Executive Committee of ...

Regulated information* - 25 March 2010 (05.40 p.m. CET) The Board of Directors of KBC Group NV decided today to appoint John Hollows as Chief Risk Officer of KBC Group, with effect from 29 April 2010, after the General Shareholders' Meeting. He will succeed Christian Defrancq, who was Chief Risk Officer and Member of the Executive Committee of KBC Group since 1 September 2009 and expressed his intention to retire from KBC, as announced in June of last year. The Board of Directors also decided that John Hollows, who is currently CEO of the Central & Eastern Europe and Russia Business Unit and member of the Executive Committee of KBC Group, will be succeeded by Marko Voljč, currently CEO of K&H Bank and Country Manager for the Hungarian operations. The successor to Marko Voljč will be appointed in the coming days.  The Board of Directors of KBC Group NV wishes to take the opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to Chris Defrancq for his many years of dedication to the KBC group.  Chris Defrancq, who turns 60 in May, graduated with a degree in mathematics from Ghent University and a degree in actuarial sciences from the KU Leuven. He joined KBC Insurance NV in 1998 and was appointed Manager of IT and Organisation. In May 2006, he became Chief Operating Officer, Shared Services and Operations Division of KBC Group NV.  With the approval of the Executive Committee and having received advice from the Nomination Committee, the Board of Directors of KBC Group NV has appointed John Hollows to succeed Chris Defrancq as KBC Group Chief Risk Officer, with effect from 29 April 2010.  John Hollows earned his degree in law and economics at Cambridge University. Between 1978 and 1991, he worked for the head office of Barclays Bank in London, and subsequently as Country Manager for Barclays Bank in Taiwan from 1991 to 1995. He joined KBC Bank in 1996 as Country Manager of the Shanghai operations and in 1999 became General Manager for the Asia-Pacific region, where he was responsible for ten branches across six countries. He was appointed CEO of K&H Bank in 2003, and in May 2006 became General Manager of Banking for the Central Europe Directorate at KBC group headquarters in Brussels. On 1 September 2009 he was appointed CEO of the Central & Eastern Europe and Russia Business Unit and member of the Executive Committee of KBC Group NV.  Marko Voljč graduated with a degree in economics at the University of Ljubljana and Belgrade. Between 1976 and 1979, he was head of the analytical department of the National Bank of Slovenia. From 1979 through 1992, he worked for the World Bank in Washington D.C. and Mexico City. In 1992, he joined Nova Ljubljanska Banka in Slovenia as President and CEO. In 2004, he became General Manager of the Central Europe Directorate at KBC headquarters in Brussels. In that capacity, he sat on the supervisory boards of KBC's banking subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. In May 2006, he was appointed CEO of K&H Bank and became also Country Manager of the Hungarian operations.  The appointments of John Hollows and Marko Voljč have been approved by the CBFA (the Belgian financial regulator). * This news item contains information that is subject to the transparency regulations for listed companies. [HUG#1397708] CRO_E.pdf: http://hugin.info/133947/R/1397708/353615.pdf
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