Hans Dewachter (NBB) succeeds Jan Van Hove as KBC group's Chief Economist as from 15 November 2020.
Jan Van Hove transfers to KBC Insurance on 1 January 2021, where, as from 1 July 2021, he succeeds Hans Verstraete as Senior General Manager of KBC Insurance and takes a seat on the Management Committee of KBC's Belgium Business Unit.
Friday, September 25, 2020 — Hans Dewachter is currently Senior Coordinator Macroprudential Policy in the Financial Stability, AML and prudential banking supervision department at the National Bank of Belgium, and full professor (part-time) in financial economics at the University of Leuven, where he teaches a master course on Macro-Finance. He takes up his new position at KBC on 15 November 2020 and replaces Jan Van Hove as Chief Economist.
Jan Van Hove transfers to KBC Insurance on 1 January 2021, where, as from 1 July 2021, he succeeds Hans Verstraete as Senior General Manager of KBC Insurance and takes a seat on the Management Committee of KBC's Belgium Business Unit.
Hans Verstraete, member of the Management Committee of KBC's Belgium Business Unit since 2012 and in charge of insurance, has expressed his intention to end his active professional career at KBC in the course of 2021.
Hans Dewachter (°24/09/1966) obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from KU Leuven (1993). After obtaining his Ph.D., he held various research positions in European universities and research centres. In 1996, he became professor in financial economics at KU Leuven and also held tenures at other universities, including RSM and ERIM (Rotterdam). He published in various highly ranked economic journals, including JMCB, JCF, JFQA, EER, and RoF, and has participated in various international top conferences (such as EEA, AEA, NBER and Cesifo) and think tanks.
In 2011, he joined the Economics and Research department of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB). He quickly took on more policy and management responsibilities at the NBB: first as Head of the Financial markets and accounts group of the NBB, and subsequently as Senior Coordinator for the macroprudential policy in the Financial Stability, AML and prudential banking supervision department. Since 2016, as Senior Coordinator Macroprudential Policy, he has been closely involved in the preparation, elaboration and implementation of the NBB's macroprudential policy. In this position, he also participated until recently in various high-level policy and technical Committees at European level, including the FSC of the ECB and the ATC of the ESRB, which prepare and oversee financial and supervisory policies at the European level. He is familiar with the Belgian and European (macroprudential) policy-making processes, and regularly consulted with national and international policy makers including the ECB, the European Commission, the EBA and the ESRB. In these positions, he has acquired considerable expertise in the field of (macro)financial analysis, regulations and policy, in particular with regard to the banking sector.
He is currently Senior Coordinator Macroprudential Policy at the National Bank of Belgium, and full professor (part-time) in financial economics at the University of Leuven, where he teaches a master course on Macro-Finance.
In his new position as Chief Economist at KBC, he will manage the team of economists at KBC's head office as well as the international group-wide cooperation of economists at KBC. Hans will continue his tenure at KU Leuven.
Jan Van Hove (°26/11/1976) obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from KU Leuven. Since September 2016, he has been General Manager and Chief Economist of KBC group, and member of the Supervisory Board of K&H Bank Zrt. He is also (part-time) Professor of international economic sciences at KU Leuven and has previously held tenures at the University of Michigan, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the Université Catholique de Louvain and the Antwerp Management School. Jan is also Chairman of the Economic Commission of the FEB and Honorary Chairman of the International Network for Economic Research. He specialises in international macroeconomics and international trade.
Hans Verstraete (°18/07/1957) holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Economics and graduated in fiscal sciences. He started his career at Nateus Insurance in 1982, and was CEO and President of the Executive Committee from 1995. He was appointed to the Executive Committee of Ethias in 2008 and became its Deputy CEO in 2009. Since 1 June 2012, he has been a member of the Management Committee of KBC's Belgium Business Unit where he is in charge of insurance.
