Hana lodges appeal over court's ruling on DLFs

Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo speaks with reporters in front of the Seoul Western District Court on Friday. Newsis

By Anna J. Park

Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo decided to immediately appeal against the verdict from the first trial on Hana's mis-selling of high-risk derivative-linked products (DLFs).

According to Hana Financial, Ham filed the appeal online on Monday night, later in the same day the Seoul Administrative Court ruled against him. In the appeal he asked for a cancellation of disciplinary censure measures imposed on him by the financial authorities over the mis-selling of the problematic products.

In March 2020, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a reprimand warning Ham of his responsibility for the mis-selling of the products, in addition to the 16.7 billion won ($13.5 million) penalty on Hana Bank.

The vice chairman is slated to be officially appointed as the financial group's new chairman late this month, following the group's shareholders meeting and board meeting on March 25.

Technically, there won't be a legal hurdle to Ham's appointment itself at the shareholders' meeting, as he also applied for an injunction of the disciplinary actions, which would be effective until 30 days after the ruling of the first case.

“Despite the court's ruling against Ham, the nominee would face no legal restraint in assuming the chairman's position given that the chairman appointee plans to appeal the case and that the injunction effect would continue for the 30 days following the ruling of the first case,” Hana Financial Group stated in its latest public disclosure.

Considering that Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung was found not guilty recently in a similar case linked to DLFs, many watchers expect a fierce legal battle in Ham's appeal process.