2008–2009 Belgian financial crisis

The problem was exacerbated by the earlier acquisition of the Dutch bank ABN Amro, which had depleted Fortis' capital.

Thanks in part to good management and multi billion euro guarantees by the government the holding performed better than expected.

This was good news for public finances (1 billion euro) and the Fortis holding since renamed to Ageas.

[15] The problems at Dexia stem in part from a multi-billion loan to troubled German bank Depfa[16] and potential losses at its US subsidiary FSA.

The Dexia board stated on 5 October 2008 that the capital addition by the governments would put it in a position in which it could deal with deteriorating market conditions, and that the credit risks associated with Hypo Real Estate and Depfa are only limited.

[20] Eventually, in October 2011, the group was dismantled Dexia bank Belgium was bought by the Belgian federal government for 4 billion euro and changed its name to Belfius.

[23] Operating with the help of bank guarantees of the Belgian and French governments Dexia holding is tasked to minimize the losses on its toxic assets.

The turbulence on the international financial markets and the skewed domestic situation after the government bail-out of its two largest competitors had increased the pressure.

On Saturday 25 October, KBC was reported to be in talks with the Belgian government, hoping to obtain a €3.5 billion cash injection.

[31] The company, which is also active in Central Europe, fears the harm of the financial woes hitting that region.

Because KBC is seen by the Walloons as a mainly Flemish bank, the federal government was unwilling to participate in a second intervention.

By the end of that year, and ahead of schedule, KBC had paid back all of the 3.5 billion euro of support from the federal government.

It also plans to pay back the support from the Flemish government at an accelerated pace, starting with 1.17 billion in 2013.

[36] On Saturday 11 October, the government announced that all banks, including the smaller ones, could obtain a similar guarantee on the condition that they are solvent and pay a fee.

Which later also took over Centea part of the activities KBC had to shed from the European Commission as compensation for the government support.

The consumer purchasable bonds offered gross interests rates of 3.5%, 4%, 4.2% depending on the runtime of 3, 5 or 8 years.