Shinhan Financial Group Narrows Shinhan Bank CEO Candidate Pool in First Round... Final Candidate to Be Selected in Early December

Subsidiary CEO succession process gets underway
Shortlists to be finalized in November, followed by in-depth deliberations and interviews in December
Banks' Executive Candidate Recommendation Committees gain authority, participating from candidate recommendations through final interviews

Shinhan Financial Group has begun the process of selecting chief executive officers (CEOs) for subsidiaries whose terms expire at the end of the year. It has narrowed the candidate pools for the heads of Shinhan Bank and Jeju Bank in an initial round, and plans to conduct in-depth deliberations and interviews with the final shortlists in early December before selecting the final candidates. In the process, it has expanded the authority and role of the banks' Executive Candidate Recommendation Committees to strengthen the independence and transparency of the bank CEO selection process.

Shinhan Financial Group said on October 28 that its Subsidiary CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee held a meeting on October 27 to deliberate on candidates for subsidiary CEO positions. The committee selected initial candidate pools for the heads of Shinhan Bank and Jeju Bank. Each pool is two to three times the size of the final shortlist. The committee plans to hold further discussions in November, select the final shortlists, and recommend one final candidate for each position in early December.

A notable feature of this selection process is the expanded role of the banks' Executive Candidate Recommendation Committees. After launching the subsidiary management succession process on September 21, the committee shared information on the longlists with the banks' committees. The bank committees then established qualifications for the next bank CEOs, taking into account the internal and external business environment and future strategic direction, independently deliberated on the candidate pools, and recommended candidates to the group committee. The group committee reviewed the candidates and recommendations from the bank committees and took them into account when selecting the shortlists.

Shinhan Financial Group has also introduced a new system under which the chair of each bank's Executive Candidate Recommendation Committee participates in the group's committee's final meeting, explains the bank committee's discussions to date, and offers views on the final candidate selection. This creates a structure in which the bank committees participate meaningfully in the entire CEO selection process, from recommending candidates to the final selection.

A Shinhan Financial Group board member said, "The bank CEO candidate recommendation process introduced by the banks' Executive Candidate Recommendation Committees for the first time this year will help strengthen the independence and accountability of subsidiary boards," adding, "The group's Subsidiary CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee and the subsidiary committees will work closely together to establish a fair and transparent management succession system."

At the meeting, the committee also finalized the criteria for evaluating candidates for CEO positions at 10 subsidiaries, including Shinhan Bank. It plans to deliberate on candidates based on these criteria and the recommendations from the banks' committees, then select the final candidates after in-depth interviews and evaluations of those on the final shortlists.

The recommended candidates will begin their terms in January 2027 after review by each subsidiary's Executive Candidate Recommendation Committee and approval by its board of directors and shareholders' meeting.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.