Antwerp Diamond Bank plans to close its office in New York

Antwerp Diamond Bank (ADB), a unit being sold by KBC Groep NV (KBC), plans to close its office in New York within six months, since potential investors prefer emerging markets in Far East and Middle East over the U.S. The New York office, which employs five people, will be shut "softly," De Bosscher, CEO of the unit, told a leading newspaper. The bank's remaining offices, in Belgium, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore and Dubai, are still running.

ADB is the last unit of Belgian financial services group KBC, to be sold under conditions imposed by the European Commission for the parent receiving state aid in 2008 and 2009. The European Union regulator in Brussels appointed a trustee to supervise the divestment along with KBC and the closure was declared to clients last week.