Belgium-headquartered KBC Group has slimmed down its executive committee following the sale of its Antwerp Diamond Bank at the end of last year.

Belgium-headquartered KBC Group has slimmed down its executive committee following the sale of its Antwerp Diamond Bank at the end of last year.

With the divestment reducing the firm’s balance sheet by 42 per cent, the committee will drop from eight to six members on 1 May 2014.

Leaving the committee will be Marko Voljč, leader of KBC’s corporate change and & support unity and Danny De Raymaeker, chief executive of the firm’s international markets business unit, as their two respective departments close in the reorganisation process.

The firm hopes that its new top-down structure will allow it to focus on its retail, small and medium enterprises and mid-cap clients in central Europe, building its market position.

De Raymaeker’s unit will merge with the firm’s international products business unit to form a single entity called the international markets business unit. The new unit will contain the product factories that focus on delivering products and services which support and fit into the distribution of the strategy of all the core markets.

Created in 2012, KBC’s corporate change and support unit will merge into corporate HR. Originally started to help incorporate a new culture and change programme, it no longer needs such a heavy amount of management time.

The reduction comes as Voljč heads into retirement and De Raymaeker has left the group to pursue other opportunities.

Age also came into play as John Hollows succeeds Pavel Kávanek as chairman and CEO of ČSOB’s board of directors, and CEO of the Czech Republic business unit. Kávanek step down as he has surpassed the age limit of 65 for group executive members.

Kávanek will replace Jan Švejnar as chairman of ČSOB’s supervisory board. Švejnar departs to devote more time to his academic career.

Christine Van Rijsseghem takes over Hollows’s current role as chief risk officer to join the group executive committee. She leave her post as senior general manager, group finance of KBC Group.

Johan Thijs stays as CEO of the banking group that predominantly operates in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Europe.