KB Financial poised to reshuffle execs

KB Financial Group chairman and Kookmin Bank CEO Yoon Jong-gyoo is expected to carry out a major reshuffle prior to the financial regulator’s approval of the group’s LIG acquisition, industry sources said

The upcoming shake-up is mainly focused on executives involved in an internal power struggle that took place earlier this month. Several KB officials were penalized by the financial watchdog for a dispute over changing the computing system of the group’s flagship unit, Kookmin Bank.

Industry watchers believe the announcement will be made before Dec. 24, when the Financial Services Commission discusses the approval of KB’s LIG takeover.

“We finished reporting on the company’s reshuffle. The decision is likely to be revealed before Christmas,” a high-ranking official at KB told local papers, wishing to stay anonymous.

On Monday, KB’s outside directors resigned en masse, pressured by the financial authorities who had threatened to delay the application’s review process.

Seven of the outside directors had already expressed their willingness to leave last week to help KB regain public trust and its place as the nation’s leading financial group.

“The outside directors turning supportive from their prior defiant stance shows that the institution is seeking a reconciliation with the financial authorities,” a source at the Korea Development Bank said.

“It will be inevitable for the bank to let go of the executives responsible for the KB crisis, which dealt a severe blow to its corporate image,” he added.

By Suk Gee-hyun (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)