Park Jong-bok, former CEO of SC First Bank, has been nominated as a new outside director candidate for Shinhan Financial Group. Lim Seung-yeon, a finance and accounting professor at Kookmin University, will also join as a new outside director.
The board of directors of Shinhan Financial Group held a meeting of the Outside Director and Audit Committee Member Nomination Committee on March 3 and recommended two new outside director candidates, including former CEO Park and Professor Lim.
Regarding former CEO Park's nomination, the board explained, "He is a financial expert who led growth and profitability improvements while serving as SC First Bank CEO for over 10 years and successfully drove new businesses including digital initiatives." The board added, "Based on his retail and private banking field experience, he is well-suited to contribute to consumer-centered management." The board determined that with former CEO Park joining alongside Director Choi Young-kwon, who has capital markets expertise, balanced advice spanning both banking and capital markets will become possible.
Professor Lim was newly nominated to maintain expertise and diversity in the finance and accounting field following the term expiration of Director Yoon Jae-won, who was a finance and accounting expert. The board introduced her as "a finance and accounting expert who is a U.S. certified public accountant and serves as a professor and dean of the business school at Kookmin University," adding that "she is a candidate with deep understanding of overall governance through her academic achievements in accounting and experience as an outside director and audit committee member at other companies."
Director Yoon, whose term expires according to regulations, and Director Lee Yong-guk, who expressed his intention to resign, are scheduled to retire at the end of the annual general shareholders' meeting to be held this month.
The board recommended the reappointment of five outside directors whose terms expire this month: Kwak Soo-keun, emeritus professor at Seoul National University Business School; Kim Jo-seol, professor in the economics department at Osaka University of Commerce; Bae Hoon, attorney at law firm Orbis; Song Sung-joo, professor in the statistics department at Korea University; and Choi Young-kwon, former CEO of Woori Asset Management.
At the meeting, the board resolved the "Board Succession Principles" to maintain and strengthen the board's collective coherence from a mid-to-long-term perspective, actively reflecting the financial authorities' recommendations from December last year. The board explained that this outside director nomination was made in line with these principles, maintaining balance in tenure through approximately 20% annual turnover.
If the reappointment of Directors Kim Jo-seol, Song Sung-joo, and Jeon Myo-sang, along with newly nominated Professor Lim, is all confirmed at the shareholders' meeting, the total number of female outside directors will be maintained at four.
Additionally, reflecting the revised Commercial Act, the board recommended Director Kwak and Professor Lim as outside directors who will serve on the audit committee, and Director Bae and Director Choi as audit committee member candidates. The nominated outside director and audit committee member candidates are scheduled to be finally appointed following approval at the annual general shareholders' meeting to be held this month.