[1mm Financial Talk] Insurance Companies' Shareholders Meeting Season Opens... "Hire Officials"

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Hanwha General Insurance to Hold Shareholders' Meetings on the 19th
Many Former Government Officials and Insurance Experts Appointed Amid Potential Regime and Policy Changes
Samsung Life Insurance Appoints Koo Yoonchul, Former Head of Government Policy Coordination Office, as New Outside Director
Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Appoints Do Hyojung, Former Financial Supervisory Service Official, as New Outside Director

Major domestic insurance companies are recruiting former government and financial authorities as outside directors. This is interpreted as a response to regulatory risks, such as the introduction of insurance company accountability structures and the implementation of advanced capital regulation measures starting this year.

Listed domestic insurance companies will hold their regular general meetings of shareholders from the 19th to the 28th. The first to start is Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. On this day, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will resolve an agenda to reappoint Professor Park Seong-yeon of Ewha Womans University’s Department of Business Administration as an outside director. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is the only domestic insurer with two female outside directors. In March 2023, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance appointed Kim So-young, a former Supreme Court justice, as an outside director, increasing the number of female outside directors to two.

Hanwha General Insurance will also hold a shareholders' meeting on the same day and plans to newly appoint Yoo Gwang-yeol, former Senior Deputy Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, as an outside director. Former Senior Deputy Governor Yoo passed the 29th Administrative Examination and served as Director of the International Financial Cooperation Bureau at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit at the Financial Services Commission, and CEO of SGI Seoul Guarantee Insurance.

On the 20th, Samsung Life Insurance and Hanwha Life Insurance will hold their shareholders' meetings. Samsung Life Insurance plans to newly appoint Koo Yoon-chul, former head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, as an outside director. In January, Koo was notified of a 'employment restriction' for the outside director position at Samsung Life Insurance due to job-relatedness by the Government Ethics Committee's employment review. However, employment was approved after a re-examination on the 6th. Koo recently participated in writing the book "Jalsanism, Inclusive Innovative Growth," which summarizes a dialogue between Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and nine experts. Samsung Life Insurance also plans to reappoint Yoo Il-ho, former Minister of Strategy and Finance, who has served as chairman of the board since last year, as an outside director.

Hanwha Life Insurance will reappoint Lee In-sil, former Commissioner of Statistics Korea, as an outside director. Lee was appointed as an outside director of Hanwha Life Insurance in March 2021 and is now in her fourth year.

On the 21st, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance and DB Insurance will hold their shareholders' meetings. Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance will newly appoint Do Hyo-jung, a Yulchon lawyer who worked for 10 years at the Financial Supervisory Service’s Non-life Insurance Inspection Bureau and Insurance Supervision Bureau, as an outside director. Professor Jang Bong-gyu of Pohang University of Science and Technology’s Department of Industrial Management Engineering will be reappointed.

DB Insurance will reappoint directors Jung Chae-woong and Yoon Yong-ro, both former members of the Financial Supervisory Commission, the predecessor of the Financial Services Commission, as outside directors. Director Jung served as head of the External Cooperation Office at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Director of Planning and Administration at the Financial Services Commission, and President of the Korea Insurance Development Institute. Director Yoon served as Vice Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, President of the Industrial Bank of Korea, and President of Korea Exchange Bank, and is currently chairman of the board at Koramco Asset Trust.

In March last year, major domestic insurance companies mainly recruited legal and medical professionals as outside directors. This was to actively respond to issues such as internal control and medical insurance fraud legal disputes. This year, a significant number of appointees are former government officials. This is interpreted as preparation for the possibility of a regime change and various policy changes and regulatory risks scheduled for this year. At this week’s shareholders' meetings, many insurers including Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance, and Mirae Asset Life Insurance also proposed amendments to their articles of incorporation to establish internal control committees. An industry insider said, "This trend of recruiting outside directors seems to be aimed at building networks and anticipating policy changes after the early presidential election," adding, "There are many former government officials, but also many with insurance industry experience."