Samsung Compliance Committee to Hold Regular Meeting on 18th... First Meeting After Lee Jae-yong's Second Trial Verdict

The Samsung Compliance Committee, which monitors the compliance management status of the Samsung Group, will convene a regular meeting on the 18th at the Samsung Life Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. This is the first meeting held after Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong was acquitted in full in the second trial of the 'unfair merger and accounting fraud' case on the 3rd, drawing heightened interest from the business and legal communities regarding the topics to be discussed.

According to business circles on the 5th, the Samsung Compliance Committee plans to hold the meeting on the 18th this month, following the customary schedule of meeting on the third Tuesday of every month. While the agenda is not disclosed to the public, it is known that the committee members will share opinions on routine matters such as external sponsorship funds, internal transaction-related cases, and compliance management issues of affiliates during this meeting as well.

However, some speculate that since Chairman Lee has been acquitted in the second trial of the 'unfair merger and accounting fraud' case, effectively resolving the nearly 10-year-long 'judicial risk,' the Samsung Compliance Committee may separately organize the roles and recommendations it should undertake going forward. In particular, attention is focused on whether discussions will arise regarding the reconstruction of the control tower through the revival of the Future Strategy Office, which the committee has previously emphasized as necessary, and Chairman Lee's return as a registered executive.

There is also a possibility that a plan to request a meeting with Chairman Lee will be discussed. The last official meeting between Chairman Lee and the Samsung Compliance Committee, including Chairman Lee Chan-hee, was on October 12, 2022. It is reported that since the reappointment of Chairman Lee and the launch of the third term in January last year, the committee has been requesting official meetings with Chairman Lee to provide recommendations on various group issues.

It is said that Chairman Lee and the Samsung Compliance Committee had a private meeting around November last year, which was limited to exchanging greetings, but no official meeting has yet been arranged. At a meeting with the press before the regular meeting in December last year, Chairman Lee said, "We communicate directly and indirectly on various agenda items and express diverse opinions," adding, "There are many ways to communicate, so I ask observers to make their own judgments on how and where communication should take place."

Meanwhile, it is reported that there may be some changes in the committee's composition in the first half of this year. Professor Won Sook-yeon of the Department of Public Administration at Ewha Womans University, who has been active since the second term, is expected to complete her term next month. Currently, the possibility of her reappointment is higher, but there remains a chance of replacement by another individual. Professor Won has served as a Supreme Court audit committee member and a member of the Gender Equality Policy Committee of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, joined the Samsung Compliance Committee in March 2021, served for two years, and was reappointed once in March 2023.

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