Jin Ok-dong Shinhan Bank CEO and Im Young-jin Shinhan Card President Reappointed, Emphasizing Stability (Comprehensive)

Shinhan Financial Group, Subsidiary President Candidate Recommendation and Holding Company Executive Appointment
CEO Candidate Recommendation for Building a Sustainable Growth Foundation and Securing Future Growth Engines

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Jin Ok-dong, CEO of Shinhan Bank, Lim Young-jin, President of Shinhan Card, and Sung Dae-gyu, President of Shinhan Life Insurance, have successfully secured their reappointments.

Shinhan Financial Group announced on the 17th that it held a Subsidiary Management Committee (SMC) and an extraordinary board meeting at its headquarters located on Sejong-daero, Seoul, where it conducted recommendations for subsidiary presidents and appointments for holding company executives.

This SMC largely recommended the reappointment of CEOs of major subsidiaries, reinforcing the stability of group management. Despite the highly volatile external environment, the group was highly evaluated for achieving outstanding results through solid risk management and diversification of business portfolios to achieve the group’s goal of advancing to 'First-Class Shinhan.' It also demonstrated stable leadership by strengthening DT execution capabilities to prepare for the future amid changes in the financial paradigm such as the acceleration of untact services.

Jin Ok-dong, Lim Young-jin, Sung Dae-gyu Reappointed for 2 Years to "Establish Stable Leadership"

In particular, the group recommended a two-year new term and reappointment for the CEOs of the group’s core subsidiaries: Jin Ok-dong, CEO of Shinhan Bank; Lim Young-jin, President of Shinhan Card; and Sung Dae-gyu, President of Shinhan Life Insurance. These CEOs will have the opportunity to enhance their responsiveness to the challenging management environment each company faces and to discover new business opportunities and lead innovation with a longer-term perspective.

A Shinhan Financial Group official stated, "CEO terms have typically been operated as two years for new appointments and one year for reappointments, which tended to focus more on short-term performance rather than mid- to long-term strategy implementation," adding, "By flexibly operating terms between one and two years, CEOs will have sufficient time to demonstrate leadership, thereby strengthening responsibility management centered on subsidiary CEOs."

Flexible Terms for Major Subsidiary CEOs... Supporting CEO-Centered ‘Responsible Management’

Jin Ok-dong, the candidate for CEO of Shinhan Bank, contributed significantly to the overall group performance through a growth strategy focused on high-quality assets despite the prolonged COVID-19 situation, low interest rates, and low growth. Based on a customer-centric philosophy, he introduced the 'Co-Growth Evaluation System' to pursue sustainable growth together with customers, leading changes in business methods. He also accelerated digital transformation, elevating Shinhan SOL to the top digital platform competitiveness among commercial banks. Recently, he was recommended for reappointment in recognition of his achievements in launching the Digital Innovation Team and promoting innovative new businesses beyond traditional banking.

Lim Young-jin, candidate for President of Shinhan Card, solidified the company’s position as the market share leader despite the challenging card industry environment, including fee reductions and big tech market entry. He was recognized for outstanding performance by pioneering new businesses such as the auto installment market and focusing personnel and resources on future core businesses like MyData and MyPayment, leading digital transformation in the card industry. Based on these achievements, he was recommended for reappointment as the right person to lead continuous growth in the group’s non-bank sector and strengthen digital competitiveness.

CEO Designated for Integrated Life Insurance Company ‘Shinhan Life’... Early Establishment of ‘One Firm’ System for Successful Integration

Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life recommended the reappointment of Sung Dae-gyu, current President of Shinhan Life Insurance, and newly appointed Lee Young-jong, current Vice President of Orange Life, as CEO Vice President, respectively. Sung Dae-gyu, who succeeded in reappointment, has been designated as the inaugural CEO of the group’s integrated life insurance company, 'Shinhan Life,' launching in July next year. Starting early next year, Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life will build a practical One Firm system centered on the designated integrated CEO, Sung Dae-gyu, to lead a successful integration.

Sung Dae-gyu, candidate for President of Shinhan Life Insurance, is an insurance industry expert who has experience with financial authorities, research institutes, and private life insurance CEOs. Since his appointment in 2019, he has upgraded Shinhan Life’s sales methods and organizational culture through active field communication and strong drive. He was highly evaluated for presenting various opinions on the mid- to long-term development plans of the insurance company during the integration preparation process, leading to his selection as head of the integrated 'Shinhan Life.'

Lee Young-jong, candidate for CEO Vice President of Orange Life, currently heads Orange Life’s New Life promotion team and previously handled the practical work of the Shinhan-Johung Bank integration. He supports the overall integration preparation process, including coordinating interests between the two companies, and was recommended as CEO Vice President of Orange Life until the integration in July next year to partner with Sung Dae-gyu in driving a successful integration.

Jung Woon-jin, currently overseeing the group’s IB business, was recommended as the new CEO of Shinhan Capital, which is transitioning from a credit-specialized company such as corporate finance/lease to a comprehensive financial company based on investment/IB.

Lee Hee-soo, current head of Shinhan Bank’s sales group with specialized competitiveness in discovering business opportunities and expanding business areas, was recommended as the new CEO of Shinhan Savings Bank and is expected to pioneer new business areas beyond the existing scope of financial holding company-affiliated savings banks.

Organizational Restructuring and Selection of Next-Generation Executives for ‘Strengthening Fundamentals’ and ‘Strategic Response to Change’

The holding company’s executive appointments aimed to strengthen the group’s fundamentals in advance to prepare for internal and external uncertainties by establishing a 'Group Management Division' and appointing a CEO-level division head. In particular, young and capable next-generation leaders with expertise in each area were selected to prepare for future innovation and enhance organizational dynamism by strategically responding to market and environmental changes and strengthening the driving force for future core businesses.

Additionally, the management position system, previously operated in three stages?Vice President, Senior Vice President, and Managing Director?was reduced to two stages?Vice President and Managing Director?to establish institutional measures enabling vice president-level executives to practice responsible management in each division. Horizontal communication among executives will be activated to accelerate internal decision-making and strengthen execution capabilities in business promotion.

Establishment of Group Management Division, Integration and Efficiency of Group Management Functions

The Group Management Division integrated and streamlined the holding company’s management functions, which were scattered across teams such as strategy and finance. In particular, by building a platform for regular sharing with compliance support and audit departments regarding key management issues of the group and subsidiaries, it strengthens pre- and post-monitoring and establishes processes to ensure thorough financial consumer protection.

Heo Young-taek, President of Shinhan Capital, moved to the holding company and was newly appointed as Vice President to serve as Chief Management Officer (CMO) of the Group Management Division. Before becoming President of Shinhan Capital, Heo successfully managed the group’s global business, overseeing overseas subsidiary management and business consulting, growing the group’s global profit scale to the top in Korea. He also demonstrated outstanding performance as CEO of Shinhan Capital for two years.

New ESG Team Established within Group Strategy/Sustainability Division to Strengthen Group ESG Strategy Execution

Organizational restructuring was also carried out to accelerate ESG management, a core group initiative. The Group Strategy/Sustainability Division (CSSO) established an ESG Planning Team under its umbrella to increase focus on promoting the group’s overall ESG strategy. Park Sung-hyun, who previously served as CSSO, was promoted to Vice President as CSSO and plans to strengthen sustainable finance execution capabilities and lead new financial trends through projects such as the carbon zero project and the establishment of an integrated ESG evaluation model.

To meet heightened customer expectations and diverse stakeholder demands, the group also enhanced preemptive compliance systems and post-Conduct Risk management functions at the group level by promoting Compliance Officer Wang Ho-min and Audit Team Leader Kim Sung-joo to vice presidents, respectively. They added anti-money laundering tasks and management monitoring functions to continue the consistency of the 'First-Class Shinhan' strategy in financial consumer protection and internal control.

Establishment of Group Big Data Division... Securing Competitive Advantage in Data Business

Alongside this, the group established the Group Big Data Division to secure an advantage in data competition such as MyData and minimize inefficiencies arising from subsidiary-level initiatives. Kim Hye-joo, recently recruited by Shinhan Bank, was appointed as Chief Big Data Officer (CBO), concurrently serving the holding company and the bank, responsible for formulating the group’s big data strategy and discovering joint projects. Kim Hye-joo is a first-generation data scientist in Korea with extensive practical experience in data analysis across various industries such as manufacturing and telecommunications, and is the first female executive appointed since the establishment of the holding company.

Among concurrently serving business group heads, Jang Dong-gi, head of the GMS Business Group, was recommended for reappointment for his outstanding performance contributing to the group’s profits despite the COVID-19 crisis. Shinhan Bank’s Jung Geun-soo and Kang Shin-tae, experts in IB and global fields, were appointed as heads of the GIB Business Group and Global Business Group, respectively.

The board stated, "Market uncertainty due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is expanding, and it is difficult to predict when and to what extent it will impact the financial industry," adding, "We hope the newly appointed CEOs and executives will strengthen the group’s fundamentals based on proven leadership to overcome this unprecedented crisis and pursue sustainable growth. We also expect them to steadily promote the establishment of ecosystems for future innovation such as digital transformation and ESG management based on expertise by industry and field."

The terms of the recommended personnel will begin on January 1, 2021. The subsidiary CEO candidates designated by the SMC will undergo verification of qualifications and suitability by each subsidiary’s executive nomination committee before final appointment at each company’s general shareholders’ meeting and board of directors.

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