Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, Will They Become Major Shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance? Approval Decision This Week

Financial Services Commission Discusses 'Samsung Life Major Shareholder Change Agenda'
Preliminary Review Finds No Issues with Major Shareholder Eligibility

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, Chairperson of Samsung Welfare Foundation, are expected to receive approval for the change of major shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance this week.

According to financial authorities on the 11th, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) will hold a regular meeting on the 13th to discuss the agenda regarding the change of major shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance involving President Lee and Chairperson Lee.

Originally, the FSC planned to discuss this agenda at the regular meeting on the 7th, but due to the spread of COVID-19, the meeting was replaced by a written meeting and the related agenda was postponed to the next meeting.

The FSC will review whether President Lee and Chairperson Lee have any disqualifications as executives or have disrupted sound financial transaction order. The preliminary review by the financial authorities found no particular issues regarding their suitability as major shareholders.

Neither President Lee nor Chairperson Lee has any criminal records for violating financial-related laws, the Fair Trade Act, or the Tax Offenses Punishment Act within the past five years. They are also not classified as defaulters.

This approval process for the change of major shareholders is a procedure following the inheritance of the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Electronics.

According to the Act on the Corporate Governance of Financial Companies, when acquiring shares through inheritance and becoming a major shareholder of an insurance company, approval from the FSC must be applied for.

The Samsung family submitted an application for approval of the change of major shareholders to the financial authorities on April 26. The application stated that the shares of Samsung Life Insurance (20.76%) held by the late Chairman Lee would be shared among Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics, Mrs. Hong Ra-hee, President Lee, and Chairperson Lee.

Among the Samsung Life Insurance common shares (41,519,180 shares) left by the late Chairman Lee, half were inherited by Vice Chairman Lee, President Lee received two-sixths, and Chairperson Lee received one-sixth. Mrs. Hong was excluded.

Accordingly, Vice Chairman Lee increased his stake in Samsung Life Insurance from the existing 0.06% to 10.44%, becoming the largest individual shareholder. President Lee and Chairperson Lee newly hold 6.92% and 3.46% of Samsung Life Insurance shares, respectively.

When Vice Chairman Lee acquired 0.06% of Samsung Life Insurance shares in 2014, he was already approved as a major shareholder by the FSC as a special relation of the late Chairman Lee, the largest shareholder. President Lee and Chairperson Lee, who are subject to this major shareholder approval, are being reviewed as major shareholders.

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