Will 'Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun' Become Major Shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance? Approval Decision to Be Made Next Week

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Financial authorities will review this week the agenda for approving the change of major shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance involving Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, Chairwoman of Samsung Welfare Foundation. It is expected that approval is likely as there are no significant disqualifying reasons.

According to financial authorities on the 4th, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to decide on the approval of the change of major shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance for President Lee Boo-jin and Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun at the regular meeting on the 7th. They will examine whether there have been any violations of financial-related laws or the Fair Trade Act, or any criminal records related to tax evasion penalties. It is known that the preliminary review by the financial authorities found no particular issues.

Under current law, if one acquires shares through inheritance and becomes a major shareholder of an insurance company, approval from the FSC is required. The Samsung family submitted an application at the end of April stating that they would share 20.76% of Samsung Life Insurance shares owned by Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, among Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, Lady Hong Ra-hee, President Lee Boo-jin, and Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun. Half of the shares went to Vice Chairman Lee, President Lee Boo-jin received two-sixths, and Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun received one-sixth. Lady Hong was excluded.

President Lee Boo-jin and Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun will be reviewed as ‘major shareholders.’ According to the ‘Act on the Corporate Governance of Financial Companies,’ if the combined shares owned by an individual and their special related parties are the largest, they are considered the major shareholder regardless of the name under which the shares are held. Including the two under review, the combined shares of Samsung family special related parties amount to 47.03%, meeting the major shareholder criteria.

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