Woori Bank President Kwon Kwang-seok (pictured) will lead the bank for another year. Interest is focused on the background of receiving another one-year term after he was inaugurated as an unusual one-year term last year. Some say that it is promoting short-term performance-oriented management by giving the term too short in succession.
On the 4th, Woori Financial Group held a committee to recommend candidates for the subsidiary’s representative director and recommended Chairman Kwon as the final candidate for the next president of Woori Bank. The term of office is one year. It will be confirmed through a regular shareholders’ meeting on the 25th.
In the background of recommending Chairman Kwon, the self-collaboration committee is △ striving for organizational stability and soundness despite the difficult internal and external financial environment △ responding quickly to a rapidly changing digital environment △ strengthening sales by introducing a collaboration system between branches I put my back. The Self-Counseling Committee emphasized, “In consideration of the importance of recovering earnings this year in a situation where management performance was sluggish last year, we recommended him as the final candidate to recover performance by extending his term of office by one more year.” Last year, Woori Bank’s net income was 1.363.2 billion won, a 9.5% decrease from the previous year.
In the financial sector, he is wondering that Kwon received another one-year term. It is evaluated that it is unusual to give a term of office in the form of 1+1 compared to other large banks that usually give a term of three years in the form of 2+1.
Woori Finance’s internal and external evaluation is that it is a person who solidifies the system of Woori Finance Chairman Son Tae-seung. Chairman Son received a “condemnation warning” from the Financial Supervisory Service early last year due to the loss of a derivative-linked fund (DLF) that occurred when he was the president of Woori Bank, and he was put on a second term.
However, in March of last year, he succeeded in serving as a temporary injunction for cancellation of severe disciplinary action. There are still risks. Chairman Son was notified in advance of the severe disciplinary action of the recent Lime Fund situation, which is equivalent to a suspension of work (as a bank president). This means that the re-election of Chairman Son, whose term expires in March 2023, is exposed to legal risks. In such a situation, giving President Kwon a two-year term may cause the term of the president and the chief executive to expire, which can shake the stability of the governance structure.
Another background is pointed out that the government’s breath is acting on Woori Finance. An official from the financial sector said, “The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation still holds a 17.25% stake in Woori Finance. After the presidential election in March next year, the governance structure of Woori Finance may be shaken.” It is difficult to give Kwon a two-year term in self-cold conditions. Another official said, “Woori Finance is virtually no different from Woori Bank itself as it has no large affiliates such as securities companies. He may have determined that there is no need to lengthen it.”
Reporter Jeong So-ram/Park Jong-seo [email protected]
Ⓒ Hankyung.com prohibits unauthorized reproduction and redistribution