"Seeking Someone to Block External Winds" Hana Bank Faces Controversy Over Recommending Nam Gi-myeong, Head of Public Corruption Investigation Unit, as Outside Director

Half of the 6 Members Recommended Are Former Bureaucrats Including Nam Gi-myeong and Yoo Jae-hoon

Nam Gi-myeong, Head of the Preparatory Team for the Establishment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Gong-su-cheo)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] As half of the outside directors' terms at the five major commercial banks expire this month, Hana Bank has significantly reinforced its outside directors with former government officials. Nam Ki-myung, head of the Preparatory Task Force for the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (PACC) under the Prime Minister's Office, and Yoo Jae-hoon, former president of the Korea Securities Depository, were recommended as new outside directors. Previously dominated overwhelmingly by professors and financial experts from the private sector, Hana Bank's outside directors now have half of their seats occupied by influential former government officials due to this new recruitment. Consequently, there are speculations that other banks, which have endured severe trials due to hiring irregularities and financial accidents, might also follow this trend by recruiting powerful former government officials as outside directors to serve as shields.

According to the financial sector on the 5th, Hana Bank recently recommended Nam and Yoo as new outside director candidates. Born in 1952 in Yeongdong, Chungbuk, Nam entered public service through the 18th Administrative Examination. He mainly served at the Ministry of Government Legislation and was the Minister (ministerial level) of the Ministry from April 2007 to February 2008 during the late Roh Moo-hyun administration. Because of this, he is referred to as a "pro-Roh (pro-Roh Moo-hyun) figure."

Nam, who served as a distinguished professor at Chungnam National University Law School from 2011 until last year, made a spectacular comeback early last month when he was appointed head of the Preparatory Task Force for the PACC under the Prime Minister's Office.

Yoo, the former president, is also a former government official. He passed the 26th Administrative Examination and served as the head of International Cooperation and Bank Supervision divisions during the Financial Supervisory Commission era. He was also the spokesperson for the Financial Services Commission in 2008 and the director of the Treasury Bureau at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in 2009. He is one senior to Eun Sung-soo, the current Financial Services Commission chairman (27th Administrative Examination). Nam and Yoo will be officially appointed at the bank's shareholders' meeting on the 19th.

With Nam and Yoo recommended as new outside directors, Hana Bank's outside director panel, which previously consisted of four private-sector members and one former government official, is now composed of three private-sector members and three former government officials. Some speculate that this move is intended to place influential figures from the current government as outside directors to block external pressures.

Meanwhile, more than half (52%) of the outside directors' terms at the five major banks expire at this year's shareholders' meetings. Only one person has reached the maximum term limit (5 or 6 years) and is subject to mandatory replacement, but this year, attention is focused on whether outside directors eligible for reappointment will be replaced. Generally, reappointment is common unless term limits apply, but due to financial accidents such as the large-scale losses from DLF and the suspension of redemptions at Lime Asset Management, the importance of internal controls in banks has increased, leading to expectations of widespread personnel changes. In Hana Bank's case, existing outside directors Ko Young-il and Hwang Deok-nam were recommended for a one-year extension, but outside director Kim Nam-soo, who completed a three-year term, will step down without reappointment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.