KBC Groupe NV

Major Shareholding Notification • Dec 17, 2015

Press release

Outside trading hours – Regulated information*

Brussels, 17 December 2015, 8 h

Publication of a transparency notification received by KBC Group NV

(art. 14, 1 st section of the Act of 2 May 2007 concerning the disclosure of significant participations)

Summary of the notification

KBC Group NV has received a transparency notification dated 10 December 2015, which states that BlackRock Inc., as a result of the net purchase of shares, now has 5.01% of the voting rights in KBC Group NV and as a consequence crossed the reporting threshold of 5%.

Content of the notification

The notification contains following information:

• Reason for the notification: acquisition or disposal of voting securities or voting rights
• Notification by: BlackRock Inc (a parent undertaking or a controlling person)
• Persons subject to the notification requirement: see annex 1
• Date on which the threshold is crossed: 4 December 2015
• Threshold that is crossed: 5% (KBC Group's Articles of Association set a notification threshold of 3% of the total number of voting rights. In addition, the legal thresholds of 5% or any multiple thereof also apply)
• Denominator (number of shares KBC Group NV): 417 780 658
• Notified details: see annex 1
• Chain of controlled undertakings through which the holding is effectively held: BlackRock Inc. is the ultimate controller but the legal entities detailed in annex 1 are the discretionary investment managers who hold the shares and exercise the voting rights.
• The relevant notification are available at www.kbc.com > Investor relations > Shareholder information > Shareholder structure.

For more information, please contact:

Wim Allegaert, General Manager, Investor Relations, KBC Group Tel + 32 2 429 50 51 – E-mail: wim.allegaert@kbc.be

Viviane Huybrecht, General Manager, Corporate Communication/Spokesperson, KBC Group Tel + 32 2 429 85 45 – E-mail: pressofficekbc@kbc.be

* This press release contains information provided in compliance with European transparency legislation for listed companies. KBC Group NV is listed at NYSE Brussels.

KBC Group NV Havenlaan 2 – 1080 Brussels Viviane Huybrecht General Manager, Corporate Communication/ Spokesperson Tel. + 32 2 429 85 45

Press Office Tel. + 32 2 429 65 01 Tel. + 32 2 429 29 15 Fax + 32 2 429 81 60 E-mail:pressofficekbc@kbc.be KBC press releases are available at www.kbc.com or can be obtained by sending an e-mail to pressofficekbc@kbc.be

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Annex 1:

A) Stemrechten Voting rights	Vorige notificatie (aantal stemrechten) Previous notification (number of voting	Na de transactie After the transaction
	rights)	Aantal stemrechten Number of voting rights		% van stemrechten % of voting rights
		Gelinked aan effecten Linked to securities	Niet gelinked aan effecten Not linked to securities	Gelinked aan effecten Linked to securities	Niet gelinked aan effecten Not linked to securities
BlackRock, Inc	0	0	-	0.00%	-
BlackRock Advisors, LLC	520 701	598 247	-	0.14%	-
BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited	62 191	299 027	-	0.07%	-
BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited	105 077	99 068	-	0.02%	-
BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG	968 421	892 840	-	0.21%	-
BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited	709 638	781 522	-	0.19%	-
BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited	1 804	1 804	-	0.00%	-
BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG	1 219	1 219	-	0.00%	-
BlackRock Financial Management, Inc.	123 900	524 845	-	0.13%	-
BlackRock Fund Advisors	2 565 609	2 886 645	-	0.69%	-
BlackRock Fund Managers Limited	1 938 263	1 449 946	-	0.35%	-
BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, National Association	3 450 386	3 601 325	-	0.86%	-
BlackRock International Limited	184 382	307 537	-	0.07%	-
BlackRock Investment Management LLC	775 495	1 022 044	-	0.24%	-
BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited	57 373	66 825	-	0.02%	-
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited	1 074 111	1 930 654	-	0.46%	-
BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd	406 421	423 667	-	0.10%	-
BlackRock Life Limited	849 145	816 309	-	0.20%	-
BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A.	6 864 503	4 903 019	-	1.17%	-
BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V.	85 374	176 082	-	0.04%	-
iShares (DE) Investmentaktien gesellschaft mit Teilvermögen	137 239	152 257	-	0.04%	-
Totaal Total	20 881 252	20 934 882	-	5.01%	-
Adressen: zie formulier op www.kbc.com / Addresses: see forms on www.kbc.com B) Equivalente Geen
financiële instru None menten (equivalent financial instruments)