Woori Financial Group will be the first among the four major financial groups to introduce "tax-free dividends." With the introduction of tax-free dividends, individual shareholders can receive the full amount of their dividends without a 15.4% tax deduction.
On the 26th, Woori Financial Group held a regular shareholders' meeting at the Woori Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, and approved the "capital reserve reduction" to promote tax-free dividends.
Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-ryong noted, "Last year, 2024 was a very important turning point," adding, "Despite challenges in the domestic and international management environment, we achieved a net profit of 3.086 trillion won, marking the second-best performance in history, and our common equity ratio at year-end exceeded 12% for the first time since the transition to a holding company, demonstrating our strong capital adequacy management capability to the market."
By receiving tax-free dividends, individual shareholders do not have to pay the dividend income tax (15.4%). As the tax decreases, shareholders will benefit from increased dividend revenue.
At the shareholders' meeting that day, Woori Financial Group replaced four out of the seven outside directors. From the five whose terms expire this month, excluding Director Yoon In-seob, the group has appointed new figures: Lee Young-seob, a professor at Seoul National University's Graduate School of International Studies; Lee Kang-heng, former vice chairman of Korea Investment Holdings; Kim Young-hoon, former CEO of Daou Technology; and Kim Chun-soo, former CEO of EUGENE Corporation.
Chairman Yim expressed his determination to make this year a founding year for strengthening internal controls with the new outside directors. He said, "Despite several valuable achievements, it is true that there were unfortunate and disappointing aspects that did not meet the expectations of shareholders and the market," adding, "With a cold reflection on a series of incidents, all employees in the group are determined to completely transform ourselves and will engrave the essence of finance, trust, deeply in our hearts, and we will surely become a Woori Financial Group that is trusted."
Chairman Yim emphasized, "We will continuously improve the systems and procedures related to internal control, ensuring that internal controls are effectively embedded and operate smoothly throughout all business operations and processes," and furthermore, "We will also consistently and unwaveringly promote the enhancement of employees' ethical awareness and establish an ethical corporate culture."