Next Week Marks the Start of the Bank Federation President Election Race... Speculations

The Korea Federation of Banks will officially begin the race to select its next chairman starting next week.

According to the financial sector on the 27th, the Federation of Banks will hold a board meeting on the morning of the 30th to initiate the selection process for the next chairman, including the formation of the Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee (CCRC) and scheduling. This is due to the current chairman Kim Kwang-soo's term ending at the end of next month.

In the Federation of Banks' CCRC, each committee member who is a bank president can recommend one candidate. The CCRC will then hold several meetings to select the final candidate. The selected final candidate will be elected as the next chairman of the Federation of Banks through a resolution at the general meeting of members, which includes 23 member banks.

The pool of candidates is larger than usual. Among former government officials, names such as Yoon Jong-won, former Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs to the President (and former president of Industrial Bank of Korea), Choi Jong-gu, former Financial Services Commission chairman (and former president of Korea Eximbank), and Jung Eun-bo, former Financial Supervisory Service governor, are being discussed. Their advantage lies in their public service experience, enabling them to coordinate well with financial authorities during high-interest-rate periods. In fact, a significant proportion of past Federation of Banks chairmen have been former bureaucrats. Although Chairman Kim, a former bureaucrat, is eligible for reappointment according to the bylaws, the possibility of a re-challenge is low since only one past chairman has served consecutive terms.

This time, the pool of candidates from the private sector is also strong. This is due to the large-scale replacement of CEOs of major financial holding companies since last year. Representative figures include Yoon Jong-kyu, chairman of KB Financial Group (term expires in November), Cho Yong-byeong, former chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, and Son Byung-hwan, former chairman of NH Nonghyup Financial Group. Other names mentioned include Cho Jun-hee, former president of Industrial Bank of Korea, and Heo In, vice chairman of KB Financial Group.

A financial sector official said, "While former bureaucrats have traditionally been preferred, this year there are quite a few candidates from the private sector with impressive backgrounds," adding, "The outline of the next chairman candidates will likely be revealed around the end of next month."

Meanwhile, the Life Insurance Association and the General Insurance Association, whose current chairmen's terms expire in December, are also expected to begin their chairman selection processes next month. For the Life Insurance Association, Sung Dae-gyu, chairman of the board at Shinhan Life and former standing commissioner of the Financial Services Commission, has emerged as a strong candidate. Other names mentioned include Lim Seung-tae, CEO of KDB Life Insurance, and Yoon Jin-sik, former member of the National Assembly. CEO Lim is a former bureaucrat who worked at the Ministry of Finance and Economy's Financial Policy Bureau and the Financial Services Commission. Former lawmaker Yoon served as an economic advisor to President Yoon Suk-yeol and previously ran for KT CEO earlier this year. Min Byung-doo, head of the Insurance Training Institute, has also been mentioned. Like the current chairman Jung Hee-soo, he is a three-term lawmaker who entered the insurance industry through the Insurance Training Institute.

For the General Insurance Association chairman, Yoo Kwang-yeol, CEO of Seoul SGI and former senior deputy governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, is reportedly a strong candidate. Former first vice minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Heo Kyung-wook, is also considered a candidate. Although there are no clear frontrunners, there is generally a preference for former bureaucrats. The current chairman, Jung Ji-won, is also a former bureaucrat who served as head of the bank supervision division and supervision policy division at the Financial Supervisory Commission, director of the Corporate Financial Improvement Support Group, and director of the Financial Services Bureau at the Financial Services Commission.

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