'Woori Bank to pick new CEO from within’

Recently privatized Woori Bank will select a new CEO among candidates of current or former executives at the bank or subsidiaries under Woori Financial Group, the bank’s new outside directors said Wednesday.

Their decision came at a meeting of the board of directors earlier in the morning, said outside director Ro Sung-tae, who was appointed chairman of the boardroom the same day.

“We reached a conclusion that candidates for the next president should be familiar with Woori Bank’s internal affairs under autonomous management system, as the bank was recently privatized,” Ro said at a press conference with three other new outside directors in Seoul.

“As the bank is not facing an emergency, we don’t need a public contest. So we limited the eligibility to those who have worked or currently work for Woori Bank or related subsidiaries for the past five years, in a position higher than vice president.”

Woori executives should apply for the CEO post by noon on Jan. 11, and the final candidate needs approval at the general shareholders’ meeting on March 24, Ro said.

Ro declined to comment for an evaluation of the current CEO Lee Kwang-goo, whose term has expired in December, saying any comment for him could affect fairness when selecting and evaluating candidates.

After 16 years, Woori Bank became virtually privatized as of Dec. 1, with the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. selling its 29.7 percent stake in the bank to seven firms for 2.4 trillion won ($1.99 billion) -- Tong Yang Life Insurance, Mirae Asset Global Investments, Eugene Asset Management, Kiwoom Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Hanwha Life Insurance and IMM Private Equity.

The KDIC still owns a 21.4 percent stake in Woori Bank.

Outside director Park Sang-yong, former chairman of the Public Fund Oversight Committee, said he hopes the KDIC can sell its remaining stake in Woori Bank as early as autumn this year.

“If Woori Bank’s stock price goes up to a certain level, I expect them to sell the remaining stake early,” Park said.

The bank’s shares closed at 12,700 won on Wednesday.

Park said he hoped that a foreign sovereign fund or a foreign institutional investor could buy some stake of Woori Bank at the KDIC’s next selling of the remaining stake.

“If such foreign stakeholders recommend an outside director for Woori, the bank will see a balance among local and foreign stakeholders. That way, the bank will be also free from the government’s intervention in management,” he said. 

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)