The chairs of Shinhan, Woori, and BNK Financial Group, whose terms expire in March next year, are all seeking another term. Jin Ok-dong, chair of Shinhan Financial Group, was selected as the final candidate on the 4th, effectively confirming another term, and observers say Yim Jong-ryong, chair of Woori Financial Group, also has a strong chance of being reappointed. Bin Dae-in, chair of BNK Financial Group, is likewise seen as likely to win another term, but as political circles and an activist fund move to shake things up, the reappointment process has been comparatively noisy.
According to the financial sector on the 8th, Jin, selected as the final candidate for Shinhan Financial Group, will begin a second term as chair if the reappointment proposal is approved at the regular shareholders meeting in March next year. The term runs through March 2029. Shinhan Financial Group posted a record net profit of 4.4502 trillion won last year. This year, it recorded net profit of 4.4609 trillion won through the third quarter, more than last year. Recognized for these results, the reappointment process proceeded smoothly.
The process to appoint the next chair of Woori Financial Group is also quietly underway. Seeking another term, Yim in July succeeded in acquiring Tongyang and ABL Life Insurance, expanding into insurance. Last year, after acquiring midsize securities firm POS Securities, the group merged it with Woori Investment & Finance to relaunch Woori Investment & Securities after 10 years. In the past, during privatization, Woori Financial Group had to sell Woori Investment & Securities (now NH Investment & Securities). Woori Financial Group plans to select the final candidate for the next chair within this month. Currently, Yim, Woori Bank President Jeong Jin-wan, and two external candidates have made the final shortlist of four.
Unlike Shinhan and Woori Financial Group, BNK Financial Group's process to appoint its next chair has been somewhat noisy. The trigger was that BNK Financial Group's board set the application window for candidates to overlap with the Chuseok holiday in October, creating a problem. Because the Chuseok holiday then stretched for seven days or more, the application period amounted to only five business days, drawing criticism that it disadvantaged other candidates besides Chair Bin.
In response, political circles and an activist fund raised the issue. Huh Sung-moo of the Democratic Party of Korea and others held a press conference at the National Assembly and said, "Immediately stop the BNK Financial chair's attempt to secure another term by himself." Life Asset Management, which holds about 3% equity in BNK Financial Group, also sent a public shareholder letter to BNK Financial calling for a halt to the process of selecting the next chair.
Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin also said at the National Policy Committee's parliamentary audit on Oct. 21, in response to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Beom-kye's point that there were problems with the process to select BNK Financial's chair, "There are many unusual aspects, and we are looking into them. If there are issues, we will correct them through ad hoc inspections." The FSS has not conducted an inspection of BNK Financial.
In the financial sector, some say political circles are going too far in shaking a private financial company. A financial industry source said, "It appears political circles are excessively intervening in the appointment of a private financial company's chair and trying to force an issue." BNK Financial plans to select the final candidate for the next chair on this day.