Woori Financial Group Applies for Approval to Acquire Dongyang and ABL Life… Authorities to Review Soundness Requirements and More

Woori Financial Group Submits Application to Financial Services Commission
Review Process Begins

Woori Financial Group has submitted an acquisition approval application for Dongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance. Woori Financial originally planned to submit the acquisition approval application after the announcement of the Financial Supervisory Service's regular inspection results last year, but the procedure was delayed due to the postponement of the inspection announcement.

According to financial authorities on the 16th, Woori Financial Group completed prior consultations and submitted the subsidiary incorporation application for Dongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance on the 15th. Once the Financial Supervisory Service completes the review of the application, the Financial Services Commission will make a resolution through a plenary meeting.

A financial authority official explained, "The Financial Services Commission has received a request from Woori Financial for subsidiary incorporation approval review," adding, "According to related regulations, the review usually takes 60 days."

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to first request basic documents for the subsidiary incorporation approval application and conduct a review, then additionally examine soundness requirements. A financial authority official stated, "We will look into the soundness aspect based on the inspection results conducted last year."

Under the current Financial Holding Companies Act, the financial condition and management status of financial holding companies and their subsidiaries must be sound. If soundness is deemed insufficient, separate conditions may be imposed when approving subsidiary incorporation.

Previously, the Financial Supervisory Service conducted a regular inspection of Woori Financial Group and Woori Bank over two months starting in October last year. The Financial Supervisory Service initially planned to announce the inspection results in December last year but postponed the announcement to early February considering the aftermath of the emergency decree.

The Director General mentioned last month when postponing the inspection results announcement, "This does not mean we will treat illegal acts lightly, but rather we intend to inform the market and the public with a strong message."

Meanwhile, Woori Financial resolved to acquire Dongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance through its board of directors in August last year and signed a Stock Purchase Agreement (SFA) with a Chinese multilateral insurance group. Woori Financial agreed to acquire 75.34% of Dongyang Life Insurance shares for 1.284 trillion KRW and 100% of ABL Life Insurance shares for 265.4 billion KRW, respectively.

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