KBC appoints new Irish chief as it reshuffles executive team

KBC Bank Ireland has appointed a new chief executive, with Ales Blazek stepping into the role.

Mr Blazek (49) was previously head of data and strategy at CSOB in the Czech Republic business unit of KBC Group. Outgoing chief executive Peter Roebben, who became head of the Irish business in April 2019, will move to Bulgaria to become chief executive of UBB and country chief executive for Bulgaria.

The appointments are subject to the approval of local regulators and must also be passed by shareholders at the bank’s annual general meeting in May.

The move is part of a wider reshuffle of KBC's executive team. The bank's chief financial officer, Rik Scheerlinck, is retiring after a 37-year career with KBC. He will be succeeded by Luc Popelier, the current head of the international markets business unit.

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Mr Blazek was born in 1972. After graduating with a master’s degree in law at the Charles University Law School in Prague in 1997, he started his professional career as an associate at the Prague office of White & Case, working primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance and restructuring.

From 2000 until 2003 he worked as chief legal counsel for Citibank Czech Republic, covering the corporate and consumer banking businesses there.

In 2002 he became general counsel for Citigroup Central and Eastern Europe Region, covering corporate and investment banking businesses there.

In 2003 he was appointed deputy general counsel for Citigroup EMEA, corporate and investment banking in London, covering corporate and investment banking businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

GE to CSOB

In 2007, he joined GE Capital Global Banking in London to become a member of the senior executive team as general counsel for GE Capital consumer businesses in Europe.

Four years later he was promoted and became general counsel for GE Capital International, London, with responsibility for legal services in all GE Capital businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and becoming a member of the senior executive team.

He joined CSOB in Prague in the Czech Republic business unit of KBC Group in 2014 as head of the legal department, responsible for legal and regulatory services and corporate governance.

Since April 2019, he has been head of data and strategy at CSOB. In this capacity he has been responsible for preparing and reviewing strategy for the CSOB Group and for managing its data infrastructure, data-analytics unit and the unit responsible for anti-money laundering and fraud prevention in digital channels.

He is married with five children.