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