Woori Bank taps global biz group head as acting CEO

Woori Bank convened a temporary meeting of board members and tapped Sohn Tae-seung as acting chief to overcome the leadership vacuum caused by the sudden resignation of its CEO.

The move to name Sohn, who is the lender's executive vice president and head of global business group, comes days after Woori president Lee Kwang-goo apologized to the public and tendered his resignation over alleged irregularities in hiring new employees last year. There have been suspicions that employees of the lender were children or relatives of senior figures from the Financial Supervisory Service, the National Intelligence Service or one of the bank's major clients.

Employees walk through the doors at Woori Bank's main branch in Jung-gu, Seoul. (Yonhap)

Under the country's commercial law, Lee is obliged to stay on as CEO until his replacement takes over, but due to the high profile public scandal Woori has decided to opt for an interim leader.

The board members, however, decide to postpone the composition of the nominating committee that will recommend the bank's next CEO.

At present Woori's nominating committee is made up of outside directors that represent the interest of its major shareholders such as Hanwha Life and Korea Investment and Securities, although state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. that holds an 18.8-percent stake in the bank may be represented as well. (Yonhap)