K bank to grant stock option for every employee

K bank logo

By Anna J. Park

K bank is aiming to grant a stock option to every employee of the company, an unprecedented move among local banks in Korea.

According to the banking industry, the stock option will be made available early next month.

The bank has been reviewing whether to a grant stock option to every member of the company, beyond just the executive level, in an effort to retain loyal, quality employees, and it seems the bank has decided to go for it. Earlier in April, K bank issued a stock option to the bank's CEO Suh Ho-sung to bring out the maximum corporate value increase under his management.

“The bank has been outwardly vocal about its stock option issuance plans for quite a long time. However, it is still not yet decided, as such decisions should be confirmed at a shareholders meeting,” a K bank official told The Korea Times.

Although the plan as not yet been decided until being voted at the shareholders' meeting, it is said that every employee who has worked for more than two years at the bank is eligible for a stock option.

A total of 850,000 shares will also be granted to nine executive members, on condition that they achieve some management goals, including exceeding 100 billion won ($90 million) of operating profit for the bank as well as the bank to have over 2 trillion won of its own capital. The stock option's conditions given to the executive members are the same as those given to the bank's CEO Suh regarding his stock option priced at 6,500 won.

As major local banks usually have at least 12,000 employees, K bank's attempt to give out a stock option to every single employee is not only unprecedented in the industry, but also expected to remain an exceptional case for a long time.

Kakao Bank, another internet-only bank competing with K bank, gave out stock options to only around 30 percent of its employees back in 2019.