KBC Bank Ireland chief executive John Reynolds is to step down after almost 30 years with the company, the Irish Times reported. The Belgian lender also announced it would need to make a provision of up to €775 million in the fourth quarter for potentially lost loans and mortgages in its Irish loan book. This was as a result of moving restructured mortgages from a non-impaired status to an impaired status, it said. In a statement this morning, the bank said Mr Reynolds, who has been chief executive of the company for four years, is leaving to pursue other interests.

Belgian financial group Dexia has entered into exclusive talks with New York Life Investments to sell its asset management unit, it said late on Thursday. The group, which has to sell Dexia Asset Management as part of a deal with European regulators in exchange for state aid it received in recent years, did not say how much New York Life Investments planned to offer. Dexia had initially agreed to sell the asset management arm to Hong Kong-based GCS Capital for 380 million euros ($507 million), but that deal fell through in July.

Greece’s announcement Monday that it ran a primary surplus for the first seven months of this year – a key condition for further help from Athens’ euro zone partners — is set to intensify a debate that has been bubbling in the background for some time: How should the currency union deal with the still-massive debt loads of some of its members?

KBC Bank Ireland recorded a €69 million loss after tax and charges for impaired loans for the three months to the end of June, the Irish Times reported. This was down from €96 million in same period last year. The Belgian lender said Irish loan impairments for the second quarter fell to €88 million from €99 million the previous quarter, and €136 million in the corresponding period last year. KBC said, however, it continues to see a “mild increase” in arrears.

Fairness. Everyone loves being fair, right? So who can resist a fairness tax? Not the Belgian government, The Wall Street Journal Brussels Beat blog reported. In late-night negotiations to trim billions off the country’s budget and meet European Union goals, the usual tweaks (more duty on cigarettes, some cuts to defense spending) were accompanied by this shiny new tax, presented by finance minister Koen Geens.

Brussels is to propose giving itself powers to wind up failing eurozone banks, in an uncompromising banking union plan that pays little heed to Germany’s legal and political concerns. According to a summary of the “single resolution mechanism” proposal seen by the Financial Times, power to shut down banks would be centralised in the European Commission. Brussels would have the clout to overrule the bank’s home country and use funds from a central pot. The blueprint for the resolution authority is due to be published this month.

Belgium-based Alfacam , the provider of Europe's largest fleet of outside broadcast vans, said it may have to file for bankruptcy if a final bid for protection under Belgian law fails, Reuters reported. The company, which also provides broadcast services and TV studios, was granted creditor protection in October and has been seeking investors since then. It released the statement after talks with creditors and investors failed. "No agreement has been found about a solution between all the parties involved in this negotiation," it said.

Belgium-based television services company Alfacam Group said on Wednesday that its bank lenders had decided to cancel its credit lines, leaving it scrambling to find a new investor, Reuters reported. Alfacam, which was granted creditor protection in October, said in a statement that its banks had decided not to extend suspension of debt repayments beyond March 31. The provider of broadcast services, TV studios and Europe's largest fleet of outside-broadcast vans signed a memorandum of understanding in December with its banks and Indian family-owned conglomerate Hinduja Group.

Ailing Franco-Belgian lender Dexia SA received the green light from European Union regulators for a restructuring plan that will see large parts of the bank closed, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move will help bring to a close a long-running probe into Dexia, one of Europe's first casualties of the financial crisis, which last month received its third government bailout in four years. European Commission antitrust chief Joaquín Almunia said he expected to give final approval for the restructuring measures on Dec. 28.

France and Belgium Thursday agreed to inject a further €5.5 billion ($7 billion) into Dexia SA, putting one of the first European banking casualties of the 2008 financial crisis almost entirely in state hands and adding to the burden of cutting government debt and deficits amid the euro-zone recession, The Wall Street Journal reported. France agreed in the wee hours of the European morning to provide €2.59 billion and Belgium €2.92 billion in exchange for preference shares.