KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was created in 1998 through the merger of Kredietbank (KB), the cooperative CERA Bank, ABB Insurance, and Fidelitas Insurance. The acronym KBC refers to KredietBank and CERA.
Piet Paul August, Baron Van Waeyenberge is a Belgian businessman. He is a son of Camille Van Waeyenberge and a brother of Jozef Van Waeyenberge. He was one of the founders, and is currently president, of business club De Warande. He is married to Wina Proesmans and together they have 3 children.
Remi Vermeiren is a Belgian banker and businessman.
Frank Donck is a Belgian businessman. He is a member of the business club De Warande and director of KBC Group. He is a son of Jef Donck, who owned Comelco, which was sold to Campina.
Almanij was a Belgian holding company active in financial services, created in 1931 and merged into KBC Group in March 2005.
Paul Borghgraef is a Belgian businessman. He is a son of Theo Borghgraef and Suzanne Collin, who is a daughter of Fernand Collin. He is a member of the board of directors of the KBC Group.
Luc Debaillie is a Belgian businessman.
Philippe, Baron Vlerick, is a Belgian businessman. He was born in Kortrijk, the son of Lucien Vlerick and Thérèse Vandewiele. He is a nephew of André Vlerick and married to Patricia Bouckaert.
The Asphales holding, now Fortales, was founded by Piet Van Waeyenberge in 1988.
Noël, Baron Devisch is a Belgian businessman and former President of the Boerenbond in Leuven. He was succeeded by Piet Vanthemsche.
ARCO Group is a Belgian cooperative holding group, and part of the Catholic workers organisation Beweging.net formerly known as ACW. The group has more than 900,000 shareholders and a capital of 4.5 billion euro. Arcofin invests in the financial sector and Auxipar mainly invests in basic and utility service sectors, and real estate. In addition the group participates in the cooperative organisations Hefboom and Crédal and the non-profit organisations Procura and Syneco. Francine Swiggers is Chairman of the Management Board of the ARCO Group, she succeeded Rik Branson.
The 2008–2009 Belgian financial crisis is a major financial crisis that hit Belgium from mid-2008 onwards. Two of the country's largest banks – Fortis and Dexia – started to face severe problems, exacerbated by the financial problems hitting other banks around the world. The value of their stocks plunged. The government managed the situation by bailouts, selling off or nationalizing banks, providing bank guarantees and extending the deposit insurance. Eventually Fortis was split into two parts. The Dutch part was nationalized, while the Belgian part was sold to the French bank BNP Paribas. Dexia group was dismantled, Dexia Bank Belgium was nationalized.
Talpa Network is a Dutch media conglomerate created by John de Mol Jr. in 2017.
Quintet Private Bank is a medium-sized Luxembourg-headquartered bank and wealth manager, founded in 1949 as Kredietbank Luxembourg (KBL), later rebranded KBL European Private Bankers or KBL ebp, and to its present name in 2020. Since 2011, it has been owned by members of the Al-Thani family of Qatar through the holding Precision Capital.
Maarten Johannes "Martin" van Rijn is a Dutch politician and businessman who served as Minister for Medical Care from March to July 2020. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), he previously was CEO and Chairman of the Reinier Haga Groep from 1 December 2017. He served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, dealing with nursing and care, elderly policy, youth policy and biotechnology in the Second Rutte cabinet, from November 2012 to October 2017. Prior to this, he was CEO of the PGGM pension fund (2008–2012).
Radio Veronica is a Dutch commercial radio station owned by Talpa Radio, a subsidiary of Talpa Network. The station runs pop and rock music from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, however in 2017, as the new show schedule was launched, the music format shifted towards so-called timeless hits which also includes recurrents. The station can be compared with Absolute Radio and Radio X in the United Kingdom.
Jacoba van Tongeren was a resistance fighter, the founder and leader of Group 2000, a resistance group during the Second World War. Jacoba van Tongeren is the only woman to have created and led a resistance group during the war. In 1990, Yad Vashem honoured Jacoba van Tongeren as Righteous Among the Nations.
The 2005 Three Days of De Panne was the 29th edition of the Three Days of De Panne cycle race and was held on 29 March to 31 March 2005. The race started in Middelkerke and finished in De Panne. The race was won by Stijn Devolder.
Groep fan Auwerk is a political activism organization that advocates for an independent Frisian state (Frisia). The group is active in politics and promotes a stronger Frisian identity.
Olaf René Ephraim is a Dutch investment banker and politician. He worked for the banks MeesPierson and Fortis before joining the conservative and right-wing populist party Forum for Democracy (FvD). Ephraim served as the party's treasurer and was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election. He left Forum for Democracy in May 2021 and joined Wybren van Haga's new political party Belang van Nederland (BVNL).
