Published : Feb. 27, 2012 - 16:12
Kim Jung-tai (Yonhap News)
Hana Financial Group selected Hana Bank CEO Kim Jung-tai, the No. 3 figure in the group, as its new chairman on Monday.
Kim, who has been picked as the only candidate by the group’s ad hoc committee, will be appointed to the post in several weeks.
The 60-year-old figure has been working for Hana Financial and its flagship unit Hana Bank for 20 years since its foundation in 1992.
In a statement, the nominee said he would like to play the role of a “helper,” who will pave the way for employees to optimize their abilities.
“I will give directions for Hana Financial Group as a leader,” he said. “I will also try to seek an enjoyable organization.”
After serving as an executive vice president of Hana Financial between 2005 and 2006, he took the post of CEO of Hana Daetoo Securities between 2006 and 2008.
He graduated from Sungkyunkwan University before starting his career as a banker at Seoul Bank and Shinhan Bank.
Kim will be the second figure to head Hana Financial since incumbent chairman Kim Seung-yu took on the top post in 2005. The outgoing chief’s term will expire at the end of March.
The new chief will take on the role of integrating the corporate cultures of Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank, which was acquired by the group this month, over the next few years.
Meanwhile, Kim Jong-yeol, Hana Financial’s No. 2 figure as group president and a former strong candidate for the new chairman, has expressed his intention to resign.
The No. 2 figure had played a significant role in Hana Financial’s absorbing of Seoul Bank and Boram Bank.
Last year, the Financial Supervisory Service reprimanded Kim Jong-yeol and Hana Financial’s banking unit for irregularities.
The regulator issued a “caution” against Kim, who had served for Hana Bank chief, for being careless about the bank’s investment in U.S. stocks and bonds in 2008.
The group is scheduled to fill the two vacant seats ― president and bank CEO ― by holding a board meeting and a shareholders meeting in March.
Despite Hana’s takeover of KEB, uncertainties still persist as a series of lawsuits and complaints against financial regulators have already been filed with courts and the prosecution.
Court trials on Lone Star’s shareholder eligibility to control KEB since 2003 remain underway.
The prosecution is investigating the allegations that senior regulatory officials, including Financial Service Commission chairman Kim Seok-dong, sought to conceal key documents on the U.S. equity fund.
By Kim Yon-se (
kys@heraldcorp.com)