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Hana CEO Kim Seung-yu |
By Oh Young-jin
Will Hana Financial Chairman Kim Seung-yu want a job extension after his current term expires in March?
This question is relevant because his decision will have a sizable impact not just on Hana’s consolidation with the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), which finally received regulatory approval last week but also on the governance of Korea’s banking industry.
Kim kept his cards close to his chest, while indicating he had asked the management improvement committee to make a recommendation about who is suitable to be the next Hana chief during a news conference following the government’s approval of Hana’s KEB acquisition.
It remains uncertain whether he has ruled himself out of the running.
The committee is composed of Kim and four other members who are close to him, raising questions about whether it would recommend anyone else.
“The committee members are trying to persuade Kim to take another term,” a Hana official told The Korea Times. “We should let Kim finish what he started.”
He led the efforts to acquire KEB in order to attain an “economy of scale” to compete with the three big banking groups of Kookmin, Woori and Shinhan, after he signed a deal with Lone Star Chairman John Grayken during a secret trip to London in November 2010.
Hana plans to deposit the sum excluding taxes from their agreed price of 3.91 trillion won this week, enabling it to measure up to the big three, an achievement that the Hana official said qualifies Kim for another term.
Hana’s internal regulations have it that one may not seek to be CEO after 70, meaning that Kim, if he wins a fourth term, will be able to serve until the end of 2013.
There is already a rumor that Kim will act as if he has succumbed to the committee’s strong recommendation for him as the sole candidate and reluctantly accept it.
There appears to be a consensus in the Hana leadership that there are a number of challenging tasks ahead that will require his continued leadership. They include the integration of KEB into the Hana system and handling an expected political backlash from the opposition parties, whipped up by capricious election-year politics.
Kim said that KEB will be independently managed for a while as part of efforts to appease the KEB union, which has vowed to stage an all-out struggle against Hana. The main opposition Democratic United Party is also attacking the government for allowing the deal that let the Texas-based private equity fund leave with 4.7 trillion won, more than twice their initial investment.
Kim’s continued reign is not universally welcomed, however.
Above all, his “advanced” age raises questions about the wisdom of his leadership, giving his foes fodder to compare him with Ra Ung-chan, the Shinhan chairman, who was ousted in a power struggle triggered by his efforts to extend his term.
The close ties he has with President Lee Myung-bak also loom large.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Kim is hesitant to take a second term,” an industry watcher said. “If he stays on, the likelihood is that he will be embroiled in a witch hunt in the lead up to April’s general election and the presidential election in December and it will continue even after Lee leaves office.
“It’s time to put himself at an arm’s length from what will happen,” he added.
Hana is scheduled to hold a directors’ meeting on Feb. 9 during which more light will likely be shed on Kim’s future.
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김승유 하나 금융 회장 4번째 연임할 듯
김승유 하나 금융회장이 3월에 3번째 임기가 끝나면 4번째 연임을 할 가능성이 높은 것으로 알려 졌다.
하나의 고위 관계자에 따르면 은행내부에서 외환은행 인수 후 복잡하고 어려운 문제들을 재대로 풀려면 김회장이 남아야 한다는 여론이 강하다고 한다.
“(4연임을) 할 수 밖에 없는 것 아니냐,” “새 회장후보를 추천할 경영발전위원회에서는 이미 김회장 설득작업에 들어갔다,”고 이관계자는 전했다.
감독당국의 외환은행인수허가가 떨어진 금요일 김회장은 기자회견을 열고 후임인선을 위해 경발위가 추천해 줄 것을 이미 요청했다고 밝혔다.
그러나 김회장은 본인의 연임관련 해선 확답을 피했다.
이미 금융가에선 김회장이 경발위의 강력한 요청에 화답하는 형태로 연임할 것이라는 소문이 돌고 있다.
일부에선 김회장의 4연임이 금융업계에 좋지 않는 선례가 될 것이라고 염려하고 있다. 이미 신한금융의 라응찬회장이 4연임과 관련해 내부 갈등으로 물러난 후 장기집권에 대한 자성의 목소리가 큰 상태에서 김회장의 연임이 쉽지 않으리란 지적이 나오고 있다.
현 하나규정은 회장의 나이를 70세 이하로 규정하고 있다. 이규정에 따르면 올해 69세인 김회장은 내년 말까지 회장직을 유지 할 수 있다.
한 금융계 인사는 “김회장이 어떤 말년을 보낼 것 인가는 그의 연임결정과 밀접한 관계가 있을 것”이라고 말했다. 그에 논리에 따르면 김회장이 연임을 하면 이명박 대통령의 임기 말년에 정치적 소용돌이속에 함께 휩싸일 수 있다고 주잗했다. 이대통령과 김회장은 고려대학교 동문이다.
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데이트부터 청소부터… 시급남편까지
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