On September 22, MBK Partners dismissed allegations of shareholder responsibility that have arisen in connection with the recent cyber breach incident at Lotte Card. The firm countered by stating that it has consistently worked to strengthen information security through IT investments totaling approximately 600 billion won from 2020 to 2025.
According to Lotte Card and MBK Partners, Lotte Card’s total IT investment from 2020 to 2025 amounts to 592.1 billion won. Of this, security investments account for 65.46 billion won, representing an average of 11% of the total IT investment.
From 2020 to 2024, the scale of IT investment is equivalent to about 40% of Lotte Card’s net income during the same period and is 1.5 times the total amount of dividends paid out.
A representative from MBK Partners explained, “This demonstrates that the major shareholders of Lotte Card, including MBK Partners, have prioritized system stability and building customer trust over short-term dividend gains.”
The company further argued that Lotte Card maintains a balanced corporate governance structure that does not favor any particular shareholder.
The current board of directors consists of CEO Cho Jwajin, two other non-executive directors from MBK Partners, one other non-executive director from Lotte Shopping, and five outside directors. This structure ensures both expertise and independence, allowing for sound oversight and checks and balances across all aspects of management.
Under the board, there are four specialized committees: the Risk Management Committee, the Compensation Committee, the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Committee, and the Internal Control Committee. These committees not only provide robust checks on management decisions but also offer a range of proposals aimed at enhancing corporate value and establishing long-term growth strategies.
The MBK Partners representative stated, “With the recognition that IT, security, and governance are core assets for protecting corporate value and customer trust, we have continued to make large-scale investments over the past five years. Claims of management negligence raised by some parties are not true, and we will continue to support Lotte Card together with other shareholders so the company can further strengthen its security systems.”
Previously, it was pointed out that while dividends increased after MBK Partners’ acquisition of Lotte Card, the proportion of information security investment within the IT budget decreased from 12% in 2021 to 8% in 2023.
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