[Reporter’s Notebook] "Should I Close My Woori Bank Account?"

News has emerged that a Woori Bank employee embezzled around 60 billion won. Concerned questions poured in from acquaintances, worried about whether it is still safe to use Woori Bank in the future. Of course, since the financial accident occurred in the Corporate Improvement Department, concerns about deposits in the consumer finance sector are unfounded.

However, it was hard to immediately say "it's okay." This is because an incident that should never happen in a bank operating on trust occurred. The bank’s basic business of lending and deposit-taking means exchanging credit (信用). When entrusting money, there must be a guarantee that the bank will safely keep it and return it according to the contract. This incident cracked that trust.

Moreover, the core issue in this case is internal control. It was not a crime committed by a malicious individual persistently, but an accident that anyone could have committed due to lax internal controls. If the real problem lies in the system, financial consumers can only worry about when the next accident will happen.

The lack of thorough monitoring and verification also increased anxiety. The embezzlement occurred over several years. Woori Bank did not know about the money being siphoned off in three separate instances. Neither the head of the Corporate Improvement Department, the executives commanding frontline department heads, the internal control and risk officers, the audit team, the bank president, nor the internal control committee of the financial holding company were aware. It is questionable who actually follows Article 1, Clause 2 of Woori Bank’s Code of Ethics, the ‘Duty of Care of a Good Manager.’

Not adhering to internal control regulations means that even if an accident occurs, there is no burden on management or the bank. The Lime scandal was like that. In response to disciplinary actions by financial authorities, the bank fought back with ‘appeal’ lawsuits. In court, the argument was made that "holding the CEO responsible for internal control failures is excessive." Despite the accidents, the bank continues to break performance records every year.

What about the United States, which emphasizes corporate freedom more than Korea? When the Wells Fargo financial scandal occurred several years ago, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau imposed a fine of $185 million. The board confiscated the chairman’s stock options worth 45 billion won and salary. All 5,300 employees involved were fired. Some states suspended operations for one year.

There must be no more financial accidents. This is why we must closely watch how much responsibility Woori Bank takes, how it apologizes for failing to prevent the accident, and how quickly and thoroughly it prepares alternatives.