Rising Woman Power in Finance Sector... Executive Appointment Keyword: Yeowind (Comprehensive)

Deploying Women Leaders with Expertise and Leadership Skills

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] As year-end executive appointments are underway in the financial sector, the full deployment of female talent has emerged as a common keyword. With talent being selected based on ability, it is being evaluated that cracks are forming in the glass ceiling even in the male-dominated conservative culture prevalent in the financial sector.

According to the financial sector on the 28th, Hana Bank carried out an organizational restructuring and executive appointments the day before, placing female leaders with expertise and leadership at the forefront. The female talent pool from Hana Financial Group’s next-generation female leader development program ‘Hana Waves,’ which recently produced its first graduating class, was actively utilized. Among the 34 graduates of the first Hana Waves class, 22 female talents belong to the bank. Among them, two women, Park Young-mi, Head of the Customer Happiness Division, and Ko Geum-ran, Head of the Sales Support Division, were appointed as female division heads.

Including Kim So-jung, Deputy Head of the Digital Experience Division, Lee In-young, Executive Director of the Consumer Protection Group, and Kim Mi-sook, Head of the Pension Business Division, the total number of female executives and division heads at Hana Bank has increased to five. All were born in the 1970s. A Hana Bank official said, "The prominent feature of this appointment is the emphasis on female talent," adding, "Young leaders with an innovative mindset and expertise were placed at the forefront, injecting vitality into the organization."

Within Shinhan Financial Group, the first female Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has emerged.

Cho Kyung-sun, Deputy Head of Shinhan Bank, was appointed as CEO of Shinhan DS, Shinhan Financial’s digital and ICT specialized affiliate, becoming the first female CEO within Shinhan Financial. Cho, the appointed CEO of Shinhan DS, is a graduate of the first class of Shinhan Financial’s women leader development program ‘Shinhan She-roes,’ the first of its kind in the financial sector. For the first time, a female talent was also appointed as Chief Digital Officer (CDO), the digital commander within Shinhan Financial. Kim Myung-hee, a digital transformation (DT) expert who has worked at KAIST, IBM, and SK Telecom, and former head of the National Information Resources Service, will assume the role of Shinhan Financial’s CDO (Vice President) starting January 1 next year.

KB Financial extended the term of Park Jung-rim, the first female CEO in the securities industry, who is co-CEO of KB Securities, for an additional year. Park will also serve as the head of the general division and the capital markets division within KB Financial. A KB Financial official explained, "In this appointment, KB Financial focused on selecting leaders suitable for building an organizational foundation to strengthen the group’s competitiveness, performance-based appointments, young leaders born in the 1970s, external hires, affiliates’ talents who are not from banking, and the active promotion of female talent."

At NH Nonghyup Financial, Lee Soo-kyung, Deputy Head of Nonghyup Bank, who was the only female executive appointed last year, was joined by Lee Hyun-ae, who was promoted this month, resulting in two female deputy heads.

Woori Financial, which previously had no female executives, has not yet conducted executive appointments. Having selected 60 participants for the first class of its female leader development program ‘Woori Wing’ in June this year to strengthen the leadership capabilities of female talent, it is expected that the promotion of female executives will follow.

A New Breeze in Financial Authorities... First Female Executive from Within

Even in the financial authorities, where female executives were rarely produced, winds of change are appearing. At the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the appointment of a deputy director, an executive overseeing supervisory duties across divisions, saw the first female executive promoted from within in its 22-year history.

Kim Mi-young, Director of the Illegal Financial Response Team, was appointed as Deputy Director in charge of planning and management. While there have been female executives from outside the FSS, this is the first internal promotion. During her tenure as Director of the Illegal Financial Response Team, Kim was nicknamed "Kim Mi-young catching Kim Mi-young" because she shares her name with a fictional character 'Team Leader Kim Mi-young' who frequently appeared in illegal loan advertisements.

In the financial sector, a culture of appointments based on ability rather than origin or gender is gradually spreading, breaking away from the male-centered culture. The lowering of the average age of executives and the increase in female appointments reflect the urgent need for change and innovation in the financial environment. Additionally, as the financial sector takes an interest in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, a global trend, social attention is focusing on the activities of female executives, which also influences the selection of female talent breaking the glass ceiling in finance.

A financial holding company official said, "With the emergence of the MZ generation and the segmentation of consumer generations, the demand for hyper-personalized services is growing in the financial sector," adding, "Accordingly, the role of female leaders with meticulous expertise and leadership in detailed customer management will be strengthened."

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