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# South Korea plans three-quarters shareholder vote for bank group chiefs seeking a third term
- URL: https://www.theglobalbanker.com/south-korea-plans-three-quarters-shareholder-vote-for-bank-group-chiefs-seeking-a-third-term/
- Published: 2026-11-12T12:17:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-12T12:17:46.000Z
- Description: The Financial Services Commission wants bank holding company chiefs to win at least two-thirds of the votes cast at the shareholder meeting for a first reappointment and three-quarters for a second, against a simple majority today.
- Author: TGB Editorial Team
- Tags: Regulations, Asia-Pacific, #newsroom, #needs-photo

[South Korea](https://www.theglobalbanker.com/market-south-korea/)'s Financial Services Commission (FSC) set out measures to improve governance at financial companies on 12 November, after a consultation with the Democratic Party. The package would stop incumbent chief executives from unduly influencing the choice of their successors and impose tougher votes on bank holding company chiefs who want to extend their tenure.

A bank holding company chief executive seeking a first reappointment would need at least two-thirds of the voting rights represented at a shareholder meeting and at least one-third of all outstanding shares. For a second or later reappointment the thresholds rise to three-quarters and one-half. Under current rules, a majority of the votes at the meeting and one-quarter of outstanding shares are enough.

## INDEPENDENT COMMITTEES AND HIGHER BARS

Committees that nominate chief executive candidates would be made up entirely of independent directors, and sitting chief executives would be barred from the committees that nominate those directors. A candidate would need the approval of at least two-thirds of the committee's full membership, against a simple majority of members present today, and an incumbent seeking another term would need three-quarters.

The FSC will also ban improper intervention by an incumbent in the succession process and require disclosure if a candidate contacts a committee member. The government and the party also agreed to allow shareholders to recommend candidates to independent directors of the recommendation committee.

"We have seen the problems that arise when CEOs consolidate their grip on power," Jun Yo-seop, director general of the FSC's financial policy bureau, told a briefing on Wednesday. A review of around 15 cases at major financial holding companies since 2020, he said, found three CEO candidates who won less than 75% support at shareholder meetings but were still approved under the existing rules.

## GROUPS WITH NO CONTROLLING SHAREHOLDER

Major groups such as KB, Shinhan and Hana have widely dispersed ownership, with no controlling shareholder able to oversee management directly, which leaves individual shareholders with limited influence over executive appointments, The Korea Times said. The long-delayed package comes from the Lee Jae Myung administration and the Democratic Party of Korea and aims to make succession more transparent and boards more independent.

Seoul Economic Daily said the plan targets the repeated "self-reappointment" of chief executives in the sector, and a pay structure criticised as unreasonable because executives collect large packages on short-term results without bearing responsibility for later losses. The steps draw on the Financial Supervisory Service's special inspections of 8 bank holding companies.

## PAY, CLAWBACKS AND THE TIMETABLE

Listed financial companies with assets of at least 2 trillion won (US$1.5bn) would have to present individual executive pay plans at annual shareholder meetings under a say-on-pay system. Executives would have to return performance-based pay if they cause losses through gross negligence or if the financial statements used to calculate their bonuses are later restated.

Lee Eog-weon, the FSC chairman, spoke at the meeting at the National Assembly. The commission's chairman said this means moving away from a closed structure built around the chief executive towards one centred on the board and shareholders, and that revisions to related laws would follow without delay. The FSC plans to prepare an amendment to the Financial Company Governance Act by year-end, and the changes are expected to take effect six months after the legislation is passed.

## THE TGB VIEW

Four of South Korea's biggest financial groups sit in the TGB Bank Rankings' top 100 by total assets: [KB Financial Group](https://www.theglobalbanker.com/rankings/) is 66th with US$556.1bn, Shinhan Financial Group 67th with US$547.8bn, Hana Financial Group 81st and Woori Financial Group 89th. TGB's South Korea market profile puts the consolidated assets of the country's ten financial holding companies at 4,391.0 trillion won at end-June 2026, 71.3% of it in banking. The first dated step is the amendment the FSC plans to prepare by year-end; if it is passed, a chief executive seeking a third term would need three-quarters of the votes at the meeting and half of all outstanding shares, rather than a majority and one-quarter.