Lee Jae-yong Keeps Promise to Compliance Oversight Committee... Regularizes Meetings with Members

Compliance Oversight Committee to Meet Samsung Affiliate CEOs on 26th
Initiates Efforts for Proactive Response to New Compliance Violations

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with the Samsung Compliance Committee members again on the 11th after three months. Vice Chairman Lee reiterated his promise to ensure the continuous activities of the Compliance Committee and is fulfilling his commitments related to the committee by regularizing the meetings.

The Compliance Committee announced that it held its first meeting of the year with Vice Chairman Lee at the Samsung Life Seocho Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The committee explained that Vice Chairman Lee confirmed once again his commitment to guarantee the continuous activities of the Compliance Committee in the presence of all six committee members, including Chairman Kim Ji-hyung. It is known that the next meeting schedule has not been set as Vice Chairman Lee is awaiting the verdict on the National Pension Service manipulation trial on the 18th of this month.

During the meeting, the Compliance Committee members also conveyed their opinions on Vice Chairman Lee’s role in establishing a compliance culture at Samsung. A committee official said, "The Compliance Committee members requested Vice Chairman Lee to take a central role in ensuring the continuous activities of the committee, and he readily agreed," describing the atmosphere of the meeting.

The Compliance Committee decided to discuss the role of top management in compliance culture with the CEOs of seven Samsung affiliates at 10 a.m. on the 26th of this month.

Following the decision to meet regularly with the Compliance Committee members, the CEOs of Samsung affiliates are also holding meetings this month, showing that Vice Chairman Lee’s promises are being steadily kept. Vice Chairman Lee pledged sustainable activities of the Compliance Committee during his public apology in May last year. He also met directly with the committee members in October.

In his final statement during the retrial on bribery charges related to the National Pension Service manipulation on the 30th of last year, Vice Chairman Lee said, "I will provide sufficient support so that the Compliance Committee can fully perform its original role," and promised, "From now on, I will regularly meet with the Compliance Committee members and listen to their valuable criticisms of me and Samsung."

Receiving momentum from Vice Chairman Lee’s promises, the Compliance Committee has also begun improvement efforts to secure the effectiveness and sustainability of its activities. To proactively respond to new types of compliance violations that may arise in the future, the committee decided to commission an external research project to categorize compliance violation risks for top management and to establish evaluation indicators and inspection items.

Previously, during Vice Chairman Lee’s retrial, expert psychological evaluators generally gave positive assessments of the Compliance Committee’s activities but pointed out vulnerabilities to new types of compliance violations. Chairman Kim stated that efforts would be made to improve this in the new year.

Additionally, regarding the Compliance Committee’s recommendation last December for Samsung affiliates to introduce online shareholder meetings, it was explained that five affiliates?Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, Samsung SDS, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung C&T?have decided to hold hybrid online shareholder meetings starting this year. Samsung Life and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance reported that they are considering implementing online shareholder meetings from next year.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Lee has been actively engaging in on-site management since the new year, visiting business sites such as Pyeongtaek and Suwon to directly review Samsung Electronics’ future growth engines including semiconductors, 5G, and AI.

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