Belgian Kaupthing depositors can get savings July 16

BRUSSELS, July 10 (Reuters) - Belgian depositors at the Luxembourg arm of crisis-hit Icelandic bank Kaupthing will be able to access their savings as of July 16 from either Credit Agricole or its Keytrade Bank unit, the banks said.

The news, released in a joint statement from the banks on Friday, ends nine months of anxiety for some 16,000 Belgian on-line savers, whose accounts have been frozen since November, when Iceland took control of the parent company.

Under the restructuring of Kaupthing Luxembourg, deposits with the Belgian branch were sold to Credit Agricole Belgium's Keytrade Bank, an Internet lender owned by a group of Belgian cooperatives and France's Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA).

Direct deposits with Kaupthing Bank Luxembourg were transferred to a new bank named Banque Havilland SA, Luxembourg's regulator said in a statement also issued on Friday.

The regulator's statement added that depositors at the Swiss branch of Kaupthing Luxembourg would also be able to recover their assets from liquidators.

The Luxembourg-based private banking part of Kaupthing is to be taken over by UK investment fund Blackfish Capital.

On Thursday the European Commission approved a 320 million euro ($446.1 million) loan to Kaupthing Luxembourg from the Luxembourg government, meant to compensate the Belgian depositors. [ID:nBRQ007433]

The executive arm of the 27-nation European Union said the Belgian government would contribute 160 million euros towards the financing. ($1=.7173 Euro) (Reporting by Anne Jolis; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)