Samsung Group, South Korea’s biggest family-owned conglomerate, plans to beef up compliance management at its affiliates as part of a group-wide strategy to better cope with risks and irregularities, an official said Wednesday.

Samsung plans to adopt an index measuring compliance policies and chief executives’ efforts to put those plans into action, Samsung chief spokesman Rhee In-yong told reporters, citing the group’s chief compliance officer Kim Sang-kyun.

The group will also introduce a system that reviews compliance activities of executives and apply the results to their performance evaluations, Rhee added.

Following a group-wide pledge in April 2011 to bolster compliance, Samsung has been moving to set up compliance-related infrastructure and policies.

The company currently runs a 250-member compliance program workforce, which includes 50 lawyers.

Six affiliates, including key unit Samsung Electronics Co., have or are mulling introducing the system that factors in compliance performance for executive evaluation, according to Samsung.

While Samsung said the move is part of continued efforts to boost compliance, the announcement comes on the heels of a fatal accident at its key unit. (Yonhap News)