Woori Financial Group Launches 'Ethics Management Office'... Auditing Group Executives

Recruitment of Former Prosecutor Lawyer Lee Dongsu as External Expert... Oversees Registration of Personal Information of Executives' Relatives
Independent Internal Control Tasks Under the Board of Directors
High-Intensity Reform Including Insider Reporting System Control Tower

Woori Financial Group announced on the 26th that it has established the "Ethics Management Office," a dedicated organization for group ethics management and executive audits, and appointed Lee Dong-su, an external legal expert (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 30), as the head of the office.

Last November, Woori Financial established the "Ethics Management Office" under the holding company's Audit Committee to strengthen the board of directors' management and supervisory functions over group executives. The Ethics Management Office serves as a control tower for ▲ auditing group company executives ▲ establishing and disseminating ethics policies ▲ and formulating policies for the internal whistleblowing system.

In particular, it will oversee the executive relatives' personal (credit) information registration system, which is being implemented for the first time in the financial sector. When handling loans to relatives, the office will verify whether executives exert undue influence and comply with internal control standards, significantly strengthening internal controls related to loans to executives' relatives within the group companies. Additionally, rumors related to executives' misconduct will be thoroughly investigated.

When the "Ethics and Internal Control Committee" is launched in March next year, the Ethics Management Office will be organized under the committee, which will also have the authority to appoint and evaluate the head of the Ethics Management Office. This is intended to thoroughly guarantee independence in performing duties such as executive audits and ethics policy enforcement.

Chairman Lim Jong-ryong stated, "Establishing a dedicated executive audit organization directly under a committee within the board of directors and appointing an external legal expert as its head expresses our determination to fundamentally prevent executives' misconduct," adding, "The group executives will take the lead with a desperate spirit of 'Mushinbullip (無信不立)' to regain Woori Financial's trust through painstaking efforts."

Meanwhile, Woori Financial established a "Group Personnel Standard System," including the abolition of the holding company's personnel authority over subsidiary executives, and implemented it starting with group executive personnel appointments on the 12th. Furthermore, the bank's Anti-Money Laundering Center and Credit Supervision Department were elevated to headquarters-level units to strengthen supervisory and monitoring functions, and the Information Security Headquarters was placed under the Compliance Officer, further advancing the internal control control tower organization. The Fraud Detection System (FDS) will also be established by February next year to enhance early detection of financial accidents, with continuous improvements planned for the internal control system.