Belgian prosecutor probes KBC share trading-paper

BRUSSELS Oct 30 (Reuters) - Belgian prosecutors are investigating possible insider trading in shares of KBC (KBC.BR) in the days before the bank and insurance group announced a major writedown, business daily De Tijd reported on Friday.

Both the Brussels prosecutor's office and KBC declined to comment.

KBC shares dropped sharply just before the announcement that it would take a big credit hit on May 14. They dropped from a high of 24.79 euros on May 11 to as low as 18.76 on May 12, a fall of as much as 24 percent.

KBC asked the regulator to suspend trading in the stock on May 13, then announced on May 14 it had tumbled to a first-quarter net loss of 3.6 billion euros because of credit writedowns and secured state guarantees to cover further potential hits. [ID:nLD848194]

The Belgian market regulator said in June it was investigating trade in the group's shares on those days. [ID:nLM49509] (Reporting by Antonia van de Velde; Editing by Erica Billingham)