Is Hana CEO leaving after merger?

By Kang Seung-woo

Younger chief executives should lead financial institutions, a local finance group chairman said Monday.

“Nomura Holdings does not appoint a CEO who is over 60 years old, and Citigroup sets an age limit of 65 and lets CEOs in their early 50s or 40s head the group. As for General Electric, it always appoints 40-something chief executives,” Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Seung-yu told reporters during the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington.

“Global banks usually sign a one-year contract with their CEOs, when they are 65 or over.”

The 67-year-old Kim’s remark came after Woori Bank CEO Lee Chong-hwi’s hinted at his own reappointment.

Lee, the 61-year-old CEO of the nation’s second-largest bank, said Woori Bank should take a leading role when Hana financial holding company merges with Woori Financial Group and he expressed his desire to stay at the helm.

KB Financial Group and Hana have been seen as top candidates to take over state-run Woori Financial Group, when the government makes efforts to retrieve public funds spent on bank recapitalization during the 1997-98 Asian crisis.

While KB Chairman Euh Yoon-dae is in the spotlight for the takeover, Kim and Hana have been relatively off the radar.

But Kim, a native of Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, questions if “noise marketing” will come to fruition.

“Talking big does not always result in a happy ending,” Kim said of KB’s remarks on taking over Woori.

Euh, 65, frequently said that Korea needs a mega bank that could emerge as a global player to compete with international lenders.

He also said that a bank should focus on risk management rather than size.

“A bigger bank is not bad, but size is not what it’s all about. Risk management is what a bank should keep in mind most,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kim was a founder of the Hana Academy Seoul and is expected to head the school if he steps down from his current position.

Some see the school as another type of a special-purpose high school, but Kim said it is not just focusing on students entering high-profile universities.

“I do not agree that Hana Academy Seoul is a stepping stone for top-tier universities,” he said.

“Students from low-income families make up 20 percent of the whole school. In addition, we concentrate on teaching good character. Unlike special-purpose high schools, our students need to complete mastering a musical instrument and swimming.”