As the government is set to soon announce corporate governance reforms that would make it harder for financial holding company chairmen to serve consecutive terms, major financial holding companies are showing an active response to the policy. If Woori Financial Group was the most proactive last year as Chairman Yim Jong-ryong's second term approached, this year KB Financial is seen as taking the lead, with Chairman Yang Jong-hee's term ending at the end of the year.
According to the financial sector on the 7th, KB Financial announced on the 4th that it would supply 1.53 trillion won in mid-rate loans this year. After Kim Yong-beom, the senior presidential secretary for policy, recently posted a series of messages on social media (SNS) saying that the banking sector should expand its inclusive finance stance, KB Financial was the first among the four major financial holding companies to respond.
In Feb., KB Financial announced it would build a "KB Financial Town" in Jeonju, the innovation city of North Jeolla, bringing together its key affiliates in banking, securities, insurance, and asset management. The move came about a month after President Lee Jae-myung noted at a Cabinet meeting the limits of balanced regional development. After the KB Financial Town plan was announced, Lee wrote on his social media, "Let's put a little more strength into national balanced development. Thank you to KB Group."
An industry official said, "It appears they are following the exact playbook by which Woori Financial most actively embraced productive and inclusive finance last year and ultimately secured the chairman's second term." Woori Financial in Sept. announced a "shift to productive and inclusive finance," pledging a total of 80 trillion won by 2030, broken down into 73 trillion for productive finance and 7 trillion for inclusive finance. It was the first among the four major financial holding companies to respond to the government's call for a shift to productive and inclusive finance.
A financial sector official said, "The biggest issue for Woori Financial Group last year was Yim's second term. The group was on high alert, watching government moves and seeking ways to align with policy." Yim secured a second term in March this year.
KB Financial Chairman Yang Jong-hee faces the end of the first term in Nov. this year. While the financial sector largely expects a second term, the government's work on governance reforms is a variable. The Financial Services Commission launched a "governance advancement task force (TF)" early this year and plans to soon announce measures to enhance fairness and transparency in financial company governance.