Hiring irregularities at Shinhan Financial confirmed
Hiring irregularities have been found at Shinhan Financial Group. / Yonhap
Financial authorities found 22 cases of alleged hiring irregularities at Shinhan Financial Group Co., one of the nation's major financial holding firms, between 2013 and 2017, officials said Friday.
The results of a month-long probe against Shinhan Financial by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) highlighted illicit hiring that authorities believe to be rampant in the nation's financial sector.
Hiring irregularities at some financial firms and state-run institutions, which are accused of hiring the children of influential officials, has been the subject of intense public criticism at a time when the nation's youth jobless rate stands at close to 10 percent.
The probe found that Shinhan Bank hired 12 entry-level workers in 2013 who were disqualified during the hiring process. Of the 12 workers, five were children of the bank's executives at that time and the remaining seven were children of influential officials.
Ten other hiring irregularities were found at Shinhan Financial's credit-card and insurance units, according to the FSS.
The FSS referred the cases to prosecutors for further investigation.
Since last year, some banks, including KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank and Kookmin Bank, have come under fire for allegations that they gave undue favors or special treatment to job applicants with ties to top bank executives or top-tier customers in their recruitment processes. (Yonhap)