New Heads of Hana and Woori Banks to Be Outlined Within This Month

Each Company Proceeding with Appointment through Candidate Recommendation Committee

New Woori Bank President Likely to Be Senior Executive Vice President Lee Won-duk

Hana Financial Group's Next Chairman Mentioned as Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo

[Asia Economy Reporter Shim Nayoung] The next chairman of Hana Financial Group and the new CEO of Woori Bank will be decided within this month. Hana Financial Group and Woori Bank are each conducting the appointment process through their respective candidate recommendation committees. The terms of Kim Jung-tae, chairman of Hana Financial Group, and Kwon Kwang-seok, CEO of Woori Bank, will expire in March.

According to the financial sector on the 7th, Woori Financial Group's board will hold the subsidiary CEO candidate recommendation committee (Sub-Committee) between the 7th and 8th to finalize the candidate for Woori Bank CEO. The competition is among Lee Won-duk, Senior Executive Vice President of Woori Financial Group; Park Hwa-jae, Deputy CEO of Woori Bank's Credit Support Group; and Jeon Sang-wook, Deputy CEO of Woori Bank's Risk Management Division.

Among them, Senior Executive Vice President Lee is known to be the frontrunner. Since joining Woori Bank in 1990, he has served as head of the Global Strategy Department, head of the Future Strategy Team, head of the Management Planning Group, and vice president of the Strategy Division at Woori Financial Group, earning a reputation as a strategist within the group.

Hana Financial Group will change its group CEO for the first time in 10 years since Chairman Kim Jung-tae was appointed in 2012. On the 28th of last month, Hana Financial Group shortlisted five candidates: three internal candidates including Vice Chairman Ham, Hana Bank CEO Park Seong-ho, and Hana Capital President Yoon Kyu-sun; and two external candidates, Lee Seong-yong, former CEO of Bain & Company Korea, and Choi Hee-nam, former president of Korea Investment Corporation.

Among these, Vice Chairman Ham is considered the leading candidate in the financial sector. However, Vice Chairman Ham has been on trial for over three years on charges of involvement in irregularities in new employee recruitment, which is seen as a risk factor. The prosecution has requested a three-year prison sentence for this charge. However, since Shin Yong-byeong, chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, was previously acquitted on similar charges, the financial sector also anticipates an acquittal for Vice Chairman Ham.

The verdict scheduled for the 25th will clarify whether Vice Chairman Ham can ascend to the chairman position. Vice Chairman Ham was the inaugural CEO of the merged Hana-Woori Bank, launched at the end of September 2015, and has worked closely with Chairman Kim for a long time.

The wave of CEO replacements in the financial sector is expected to continue until next year. The terms of Jin Ok-dong, CEO of Shinhan Bank, and Lim Young-jin, president of Shinhan Card, major subsidiaries of Shinhan Financial Group, will expire in December this year. Chairman Cho Yong-byeong of Shinhan Financial Group’s term ends in March next year, and the term of Park Seong-ho, CEO of Hana Bank, also ends in March next year.

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