The chief executive of Europe’s KBC group, Jan Vanhevel, is to retire at the annual meeting on 3 May, rounding out almost 41 years at the firm and 16 as a member of its executive committee, the firm said today.

Vanhevel will be succeeded by Johan Thijs, CEO of KBC’s Belgium business unit.

"KBC Group owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Jan Vanhevel. He agreed to take the helm in exceedingly difficult circumstances in 2009, postponing the retirement he had originally planned to take in that year. Since then, and with unconditional dedication to the group, he has led the conception and implementation of a far-reaching turnaround plan,” Thomas Leysen, chairman of KBC, said in a statement today.

Vanhevel began his career at the Kredietbank in 1971 in its legal division. From 1972 to 1994, he held a number of increasingly senior positions in the bank and also taught financial law at the Handelshogeschool in Antwerp. He became general manager of the IT division in 1994, a member of the executive committee of the Kredietbank in 1996 and of KBC Bank and KBC Group in 1998. In 2006, he was appointed CEO of the Central & Eastern Europe and Russia Business Unit of KBC Group, and in 2009, CEO of the whole group.