KB Financial Group(105560)The final candidate for the next chairman of the holding company is Lee Jae-geun, head of the KB Financial Group institutional sector. Incumbent Chairman Yang Jong-hee failed to win another term.
The KB Financial Group chairman candidate recommendation committee (the committee) said on the 11th that it held a meeting and selected Lee, the institutional sector head, as the final candidate for the next chairman. The committee said, "We chose Lee Jae-geun, the institutional sector head, as the right person to lead bold change and a generational shift at a time when such steps are needed to strengthen the group's fundamental competitiveness and secure future growth engines, rather than settling for the current strong performance."
Committee Chair Cho Hwa-joon said, "Lee is a CEO candidate with the capabilities to draw out KB Financial Group's future and sustainable growth amid the restructuring of the financial industry and the full-fledged onset of MoneyMove," adding, "Beyond his outstanding expertise across banking and nonbanking built while serving as the holding company's institutional sector head and as bank CEO, he also has deep knowledge and insight in finance, strategy, and the global institutional sector." He added, "The performance and management ability Lee showed while serving as bank CEO and holding company institutional sector head are sufficient for him to become the group's leader, in the committee's view."
On the 27th of last month, the committee narrowed the field to three candidates for the next chairman: Lee, the institutional sector head; Chairman Yang; and former Woori Bank CEO Kwon Kwang-seok. The committee conducted in-depth interviews with the candidates for two hours that day, then decided on Lee, the institutional sector head, as the final candidate after a meeting.
The committee said it rigorously vetted and evaluated the candidates based on five items and 25 detailed criteria set in the chairman eligibility requirements: ▲ work experience and expertise ▲ leadership ▲ integrity ▲ sharing KB Financial Group's vision and values ▲ commitment to sound management in the short and long term.
Born in 1966, the candidate graduated from Seoul High School and the mathematics department at Sogang University. He later earned a master's degree in economics from the Sogang University Graduate School and an MBA in financial engineering from KAIST. He joined Housing Bank in 1991, then handled both sales and corporate planning at KB Kookmin Bank before becoming executive director and chief financial officer (CFO) at KB Financial Group in 2017. He then served as senior executive director and vice president before becoming CEO of KB Kookmin Bank in 2022. Since last year, as the holding company's institutional sector head, he has overseen the global institutional sector, wealth management (WM), and the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) institutional sector.
Lee is expected to be formally appointed chairman at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on Nov. 20 after recommendations by the committee and the board on Oct. 2. The term will be three years from Nov. 21.
Meanwhile, in financial circles, there is analysis that Yang's failure to secure another term is unusual. Yang was regarded as the strongest contender for another term after receiving recognition for achievements such as record earnings during the term and improvements in the nonbanking portfolio.
◇Profile of Lee Jae-geun, nominee for next chairman of KB Financial Group Holdings
▲ Born in Seoul in 1966 ▲ Graduated from Seoul High School ▲ Graduated from the mathematics department at Sogang University ▲ Master's in economics from the Sogang University Graduate School ▲ Master's in financial engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Graduate School ▲ Executive director, Corporate Planning Group, KB Kookmin Bank ▲ Deputy president, Sales Group, KB Kookmin Bank ▲ CEO, KB Kookmin Bank ▲ Head of Global Business institutional sector, KB Financial Group Holdings