Opened the recruitment committee and created a shortlist of 4-5 candidates
Conducted interviews and presentation evaluations
Final candidates to be decided in early next month
Scheduled to assume office at the regular general meeting in March
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] BNK Financial Group has initiated the CEO succession process to appoint the next chairman.
On the 23rd, according to BNK Financial, the Holding Company Executive Candidate Recommendation Committee held a closed meeting at an undisclosed location in Seoul the previous afternoon and compiled a shortlist of qualified candidates.
According to the company's internal regulations, the candidate recommendation committee must convene and begin the CEO succession process at least one month before the chairman's term expires. Since Chairman Kim Ji-wan's term ends at the regular shareholders' meeting in March, BNK Financial explained that the committee was held on this day considering the schedule for screening and evaluating candidates for the holding company chairman.
The committee is responsible for recommending and verifying chairman candidates and consists of five outside directors as members.
At this meeting, in accordance with the "internal succession principle" set out in the CEO succession plan, no external recruitment process will be conducted separately, and the committee decided to recommend the next chairman candidate from among the internal candidates selected by the committee.
A shortlist of four to five candidates, including Chairman Kim, was selected. The schedule was also set to recommend the final candidate to the board of directors around early next month.
Internal directors of the holding company, those responsible for business execution, and subsidiary CEOs may be included in the candidate pool, but except for Chairman Kim, the other candidates have not been disclosed externally.
Inside and outside BNK Financial, Chairman Kim's reappointment is anticipated. It is also reported that Chairman Kim has a strong intention to seek reappointment. In March last year, BNK Financial revised its governance code to allow only one reappointment regardless of age, removing obstacles to Chairman Kim's reappointment. The four major financial groups, including Shinhan Financial and KB Financial, set the age limit for chairman appointment or reappointment at under 70 years old.
Bin Dae-in, President of Busan Bank, and Hwang Yoon-chul, President of Gyeongnam Bank, whose terms also end in March, are mentioned as strong candidates, but it is reported that both intend to focus on bank operations.
Going forward, the committee will hold three to four additional meetings to conduct comprehensive evaluations of CEO candidates, including document screening, presentation assessments, and interviews. Additionally, the results of reputation checks through external advisory agencies will be reflected, and the final chairman candidate will be recommended next month.
The final candidate will be appointed as BNK Financial's next CEO chairman at the regular shareholders' meeting and board of directors meeting in March.
Chairman of the Recommendation Committee Jeong Ki-young emphasized, “We will select a suitable candidate who can realize BNK Financial Group’s management philosophy and values, lead organizational change in response to the rapidly changing financial environment, and above all, recommend fairly and transparently according to the succession plan.”
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