By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff reporter
With Kookmin Bank CEO Kang Chung-won tendering resignation, Euh Yoon-dae, the nominee for the chairman of KB Financial Group, is expected to name Kang's successor next week as soon as he takes the helm of the nation's largest financial group on July 13. He is expected to be confirmed as the KB head at a shareholders' meeting that same day.
For Euh, appointing the new head of the group's flagship bank is the most urgent task to minimize the management vacuum at the nation's largest lender and put the group back on track as early as possible.
KB Financial has been reeling from the global financial crisis. Its plan to become Asia's leader by strengthening its non-banking sector has been put on the shelf after the chairmanship has remained vacant for nine months following former chairman Hwang Young-key's resignation.
There are many names on the lips of people both inside and outside the group but the list may be narrowed down to only a few given that there are two important factors that Euh may well prioritize in the selection process.
First of all, Euh is expected to look for someone who started their career at Kookmin and has the ability to lead it on his behalf to effectively control the bank whose revenues accounts for more than 95 percent of the group's. In other words, he will try to settle down as the group chairman without major conflicts with its employees and union.
Secondly, he may prefer someone in favor of, or at least, not against, his vision to create a mega bank by taking over one of the major commercial lenders, such as Woori Bank or the Korea Development Bank.
Taking these aspects into consideration, it is highly probable that a new CEO will be selected from among the current senior bank executives.
Following his nomination, Euh himself expressed his intention to appoint a new CEO from among internal executives to ensure stability and harmony at the organization.
"I was told that Euh is considering picking a new bank CEO from among group executives to ensure the bank' stability and continuity in management," said a KB executive, asking not to be named.
Currently, the names everybody is talking about are Min Byong-duk, senior executive vice president of the retail banking division; Choi Gie-ui, senior executive vice president of the strategy division; and Shim Hyung-goo, senior executive vice president of the trust and pension division.
Min has shown his capability by successfully managing the lender's sales division. A native of Cheonan, Choongcheong Province, he graduated from Dongguk University with a major in business administration.
Choi, a native of Jinjoo, Gyeongsang Province, was also considered a leading candidate as he has served various roles, including the head of the personnel management and strategy division. He graduated from Dong-A University.
Shim demonstrated his capability as CEO by serving as the president of KB Real Estate and Trust, another subsidiary of KB, for three years. Among other candidates are KB Financial Group Vice President Choi In-kyu; KB Financial Academy President Nam Gyeong-woo and KB Data System CEO Lee Dal-soo.
In June, the right to appoint the head of the group's subsidiaries was transferred to the chairman of KB Financial. Under the new rule, if Euh appoints a new CEO, the appointment can be confirmed at a meeting of the group's CEO recommendation committee.