KBC

KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer that serves private clients as well as small and medium-sized businesses in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was formed in 1998 by the merger of Kredietbank, CERA Bank, ABB Insurance, and Fidelitas Insurance. The abbreviation KBC stands for KredietBank and CERA.

KBC Group is a major company in Belgium and the country's second-largest bancassurer. As of late 2020, it was the 15th largest bank in Europe by market capitalization and a major financial player in Central and Eastern Europe, with 41,000 employees (more than half of whom worked in Central and Eastern Europe) and 12 million customers worldwide. (some 7 to 8 million in Central and Eastern Europe). KBC is a member of the Forbes Global 2000.

The company is controlled by a small group of core shareholders and has a free float of about 60%. The core shareholders include KBC Ancora, a listed company controlled by CERA (or CERA cvba [nl], a holding company formed by the cooperative clients of CERA Bank at the time of the 1998 merger), owning 19%; MRBB (Maatschappij voor Roerend Bezit van de Boerenbond), a vehicle of the Boerenbond farmers' association, at 12%; a group of industrialist families, at 8%; and CERA directly, at 3%. Its shares are traded on the Euronext Brussels exchange.

Founded: 9 February 1935

Headquarters: Havenlaan 2, B-1080, Brussels, Belgium

Website: kbc.be/corporate/en.html?zone=topnav