List of banks in Belgium

The following list of banks in Belgium is to be understood within the framework of the European single market and European banking union, which means that Belgium's banking system is more open to cross-border banking operations than peers outside of the EU.

Policy framework

European banking supervision distinguishes between significant institutions and less significant institutions, with SI/LSI designations updated regularly by the European Central Bank. Significant institutions are directly supervised by the ECB using joint supervisory teams that involve the national competent authorities of individual participating countries. Less significant institutions are supervised by the relevant NCA on a day-to-day basis, under the supervisory oversight of the ECB. In Belgium's case, the NCA is the National Bank of Belgium.

Significant institutions

As of, the list of supervised institutions maintained by the ECB included the following five Belgian banking groups as SIs, with names as indicated by the ECB for each group's consolidating entity:

In addition to these, other euro-area-based banking groups have significant operations in the country. A study published in 2024 assessed that the largest bank by assets in Belgium at end-2023 was BNP Paribas, followed by KBC, Belfius, ING Group, Argenta, Crelan, BNY, and Crédit Mutuel. BPCE and Crédit Agricole are also present via their respective acquisitions of Banque Nagelmackers and Degroof Petercam in 2024. Belgium is also home to subsidiaries of other euro-area significant institutions, namely MDB Group and UniCredit. By contrast, Euroclear Bank, whose balance sheet grew rapidly to more than €200 billion as a consequence of the European Union sanctions against Russia which were introduced in late February 2022, remains designated by the ECB as a LSI.

Less significant institutions

As of, the ECB's list of supervised institutions included 17 Belgian LSIs.

High-impact LSIs

Of these, three were designated as "high-impact" on the basis of several criteria including size:

Euroclear Holding SA/NV, the parent company of the Euroclear Group
FinAx NV, holding entity of Delen Private Bank
vdk bank, a former local savings bank

Two additional entities owned by Euroclear Holding SA/NV, international central securities depository Euroclear Bank and intermediate holding company Euroclear SA, meet the criteria for SI designation but have been classified by the ECB as LSIs by special derogation, together with a handful of other financial market infrastructures.

Other euro-area LSIs

The other eight Belgian or euro-area-controlled LSIs were:

Bank Dierickx Leys, a private bank
Bank J. Van Breda en C^o NV, a private bank
Banque Eni SA, subsidiary of Eni
Datex Financial Holding, owner of BankB
*, a local savings bank
, a local cooperative group
Delen Private Bank SA, subsidiary of FinAx NV
Van De Put & Co Private Bankers

Non-euro-area-controlled LSIs

Based on the same ECB list, four Belgian LSIs were controlled by financial groups outside the euro area:

Byblos Bank Europe, subsidiary of Byblos Bank
Belgian branch of Hoist Finance AB
Belgian branch of Saxo Bank A/S
United Taiwan Bank SA, subsidiary of Taiwan Cooperative Bank

Third-country branches

As of, the following banking groups established outside the European Economic Area had branches in Belgium :

Other institutions

The National Bank of Belgium, which is half-owned by the Belgian government, is specifically exempted from EU banking law by the Capital Requirements Directives.

Defunct banks

A number of former Belgian banks, defined as having been headquartered in the present-day territory of Belgium and its colonies, are documented on Wikipedia. They are listed below in chronological order of establishment.