Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Shinhan Financial replaces 9 CEOs in major personnel overhaul
Shinhan Bank CEO to serve 2 more years
Shinhan Financial Group undertook a major personnel overhaul on Thursday, replacing the heads of nine out of 13 subsidiaries. This marks a significant shift from last year’s approach of retaining all subsidiary CEOs for the sake of stability.
Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk / Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group
By Jun Ji-hye
The latest appointments demonstrate the group’s commitment to generational change and adaptability to the uncertain future business environment.
However, the group struck a balance between stability and change by granting Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk a two-year extension and reappointing Lee Young-jong, CEO of Shinhan Life, who delivered a strong performance.
The decision was made during a meeting of the subsidiary CEO candidate recommendation committee.
Jung was granted a two-year extension to his term, reflecting the group’s commitment to ensuring stable leadership at the bank, which is the most critical subsidiary.
Jung has successfully expanded both interest income and non-interest income, establishing a stable profit structure. He has also received positive evaluations for driving growth, particularly in the global sector.
Lee Sun-hoon, the executive vice president of Shinhan Investment & Securities, was nominated as the new CEO of the firm as current CEO Kim Sang-tae had offered his resignation following the company’s losses worth 130 billion won ($92 million) while operating exchange-traded funds.
The board of directors acknowledged the need for accountability due to the large-scale losses and suggested that a change in leadership was necessary.
As for Shinhan Card, despite maintaining the top position in the market, the firm’s management and board of directors pointed out that the company lacked internal innovation and failed to find proper growth momentum, leading to the decision for a leadership change.
The selection of the new CEO is also unconventional as Park Chang-hun, who has not held a vice president role, was chosen.
“The CEO change at Shinhan Card reflects a strong commitment to enhancing the group’s corporate value and driving organizational renewal,” a Shinhan Financial official said.
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Lee Young-jong, CEO of Shinhan Life, was reappointed following strong evaluations from management and the board for successfully expanding the group’s underperforming life insurance division.
At Shinhan Capital, Jeon Pil-hwan, the senior deputy governor of Shinhan Bank, was newly nominated as CEO. Jeon, who previously led digital business and sales initiatives, also served as the head of Shinhan Bank’s subsidiary in Japan.
The nominated CEO candidates will undergo a verification process regarding qualifications and suitability by the respective subsidiary’s executive candidate recommendation committees. They will then be finally appointed by the board of directors and shareholders’ meetings of each company.