As the Supreme Court's ruling on Ham Young-joo, chairman of Hana Financial Group, over alleged illegal hiring approaches on the 29th, the financial sector is watching closely. Hana Financial Group is said to have submitted to the financial authorities an emergency succession plan that would immediately elect a new chairman if Ham is convicted.
According to the financial sector and according to legal sources on the 27th, the Supreme Court plans to hand down a ruling on the 29th in the case involving Ham's charges of obstruction of business and violation of the Act on Equal Employment for Both Sexes, among others. It comes about eight years after the first indictment in 2018.
Ham was indicted in June 2018 on charges that, as bank president, he directed the human resources department during the 2015 open recruitment to pass a particular applicant. He is also accused of ordering the human resources department ahead of the 2015 and 2016 open recruitments to favor male applicants and hire at a male-to-female ratio of 4 to 1.
Ham was acquitted at the first trial, but in Nov. 2023 the second trial reversed the verdict and sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and a fine of 3 million won. Under the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies, a person sentenced to imprisonment or heavier cannot serve as an executive of a financial company.
If the Supreme Court finalizes a guilty verdict for Ham, Hana Financial Group will initiate emergency succession procedures. Financial holding companies must establish emergency succession procedures to prepare for a CEO contingency arising from an unexpected incident. Hana Financial Group is said to have recently reported its emergency succession plan to the financial authorities.
According to Hana Financial Group's articles of incorporation and related rules, in the event of the CEO's contingency, the board of directors appoints an acting chairman from among the inside directors, considering date of appointment, position, age, and other factors. The board then convenes the chairman candidate recommendation committee (the committee) within seven business days of the contingency and begins the succession process, including recommending candidates for the next chairman. Unless there are unavoidable reasons, the committee must recommend a new CEO candidate within 30 days. The next chairman will be selected from the candidate pool (long list) that Hana Financial Group manages on an ongoing basis. The long list reported to the board currently includes a total of 12 internal and external candidates.
If the Supreme Court quashes and remands the lower court's ruling on grounds of innocence, Ham will be able to shed legal risk and resolve management uncertainty. Ham, who was reappointed in Mar. last year, serves until Mar. 2028.