Hana Financial Group held its chairman candidate recommendation committee (committee) on the 23rd and noted that it has selected five final candidates for the next chairman of Hana Financial Group (Short List), including Chairman Ham Young-ju, Vice Chairman Lee Seung-yeol, who also serves as the head of Hana Bank, and Vice Chairman Kang Sung-mook, who is also the president of Hana Securities, along with two external candidates.
The committee commenced the succession process in accordance with the best practices for the governance structure of bank holding companies and banks, starting 90 days before the annual shareholders meeting scheduled for March of next year, evaluating and verifying step by step.
In accordance with Hana Financial Group's 'Chairman Management Succession Plan and Candidate Recommendation Procedure', the committee held in early December selected a candidate pool (Long List) of 12 individuals (6 internal, 6 external). Subsequently, through fair and transparent review and voting in mid-December, the final candidate pool (Short List) was narrowed down to 3 internal and 2 external candidates, totaling 5.
The committee explained that to ensure thorough evaluation and verification of the chief executive officer candidates as required by the governance practice, and to secure fairness in the CEO selection process, it diversified the evaluation subjects and methods by referencing multi-source evaluations, external candidate recommendations through external advisory organizations, and in-depth background checks.
In particular, to ensure that the evaluation methods or timing are not disadvantageous to external candidates, the committee held a briefing solely for external candidates for the first time in the financial sector today, providing external candidates with opportunities for face-to-face contact with committee members before the final candidate announcement and in-depth interviews, allowing time for questions and answers on necessary matters for final interview preparation.
Lee Jeong-won, chairperson of the committee, stated, 'Today's briefing for external candidates is a consideration for those who may not be familiar with Hana Financial Group, aiming to explain the group and provide assistance. However, it is not a mandatory procedure for external candidates to participate in the final interview,' adding, 'The names of the two final external candidates will be kept confidential until the final announcement at their request as experienced financial executives.'
The next committee is scheduled to be held in January 2025 to provide sufficient preparation time for internal and external candidates for presentations (PT) and in-depth interviews. The evaluation will be conducted based on 14 detailed criteria in four areas: entrepreneurship, vision and management strategy, expertise, etc., allowing commissioners' assessments to guide the voting to elect the chairman candidate to lead Hana Financial Group.