[2023 Financial Forum] CEO Woo Byung-hyun: "Internal Control and Dispersed Ownership Structure Are Essential Improvement Tasks for Financial Holding Companies"

Annual Net Profit of 20 Trillion Won with Massive Influence but Frequent Accidents
2008 Financial Crisis Highlights Importance of Internal Controls

Woo Byung-hyun, CEO of Asia Economy, is delivering the opening speech at the 12th Seoul Asia Financial Forum held on the 25th at the Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Woo Byung-hyun, CEO of Asia Economy, said on the 25th, "Internal control is a task that financial holding companies with dispersed ownership structures must improve."

In his opening remarks at the 12th Seoul Asia Financial Forum hosted by Asia Economy at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Woo stated, "Domestic financial holding companies have significant influence, but they are still not free from issues related to governance and internal control."

Woo explained, "Domestic financial companies transitioned to a financial holding company system with the enactment of the Financial Holding Companies Act in 2010, and currently, 10 holding companies have tremendous influence, generating annual net profits of around 20 trillion won. Nevertheless, problems such as the CEO's overwhelming control, relatively weak accountability, ineffective boards of directors, poor sales of private equity funds, and embezzlement by employees continue to arise."

He added, "Looking back at the 'Lehman Brothers incident,' the epicenter of the 2008 financial crisis, we can understand how important governance and internal control are. It is necessary to consider why Wall Street investment banks, which dominate the global financial market, collectively engaged in such wrongful behavior at that time, what was happening inside the banks, why the CEOs managed the companies in that way, and what the boards of directors were doing."

Woo concluded, "Today’s forum will be an opportunity to examine specific cases related to governance and internal control of overseas financial companies, and I hope it will be a place for us all to contemplate the path that our financial companies should take."