Hana chairman may replace bank CEO

Hana Bank Vice President Park Sung-ho speaks during the National Assembly's annual audit in Seoul, Oct. 13. Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

• Published Feb 25, 2021 1:39 PM KST
• Updated Feb 25, 2021 6:53 PM KST

By Lee Min-hyung

Hana Bank Vice President Park Sung-ho may be promoted to become the lender's next leader, replacing incumbent chief Ji Sung-kyoo whose term ends in March.

The prediction came after Hana Financial Group's CEO recommendation committee has “de facto” decided to extend the tenure of its chairman, Kim Jung-tai, for another year.

Park placed his name on a list of candidates for the group's next chairmanship along with Kim. This attracted the attention of many in the industry, as Ji was not included. The financial industry here typically recommends an incumbent bank head to become its holding firm's next leader.

Ji was widely expected to have his term extended thanks to his contributions to the banking group's stable earnings. But after the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) slapped him with a warning-level sanction surrounding the lender's involvement in the mis-selling of derivative-linked fund products, the group excluded him from the candidate list for the group chairmanship, sources said/

Hana's CEO recommendation committee will soon confirm candidates for leadership of the group's 11 affiliates ― including Hana Bank.

Once the committee confirms the list, the group will make a final decision over the leadership reshuffle after its planned shareholders' meeting next month.

“We will soon make announcements over the leadership reshuffle,” a spokesman of the group said.

Park has a broad range of experience in the lender's sales, global and digital business divisions. In his career he has served as chief of Hana Bank's Indonesian branch and president of Hana TI, an IT service arm of Hana Financial Group in Indonesia.