Samsung Group will audit its financial units this month, including key affiliates such as its insurance arms following a scandal at another subsidiary, industry sources said on Monday.
The move would mark the first audit on the financial units since 2003.
The group’s auditing team will first review the business operations of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance later this month, before a separate audit of Samsung Life Insurance, the sources predicted.
The rare audit plans come amid a corruption scandal that rocked Samsung Group.
The head of Samsung Techwin, the group’s affiliate on security-related equipment, energy development and defense, had stepped down last month on evidence that Techwin’s executives and employees had engaged in corrupt activities.
Samsung Group owner Lee Kun-hee was reportedly furious at the audit reports and called for a company-wide “cleansing.”
“The unblemished image of Samsung’s organizational culture has been marred,” Lee had said at the time.
Members of Samsung Life Insurance team’s auditors will help with the audit into Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, and vice versa for a cross-audit to ensure transparency and accuracy in the audit, the industry sources said.
The group will eventually include more affiliates in the audit campaign, industry sources said, predicting that other units would be subject to monitoring by the reinforced audit team.
By Kim Ji-hyun (
jemmie@heraldcorp.com)
