Chairman Han Dong-woo of Shinhan Financial Group 

who initiated the group’s “Compassionate Finance” as 

the theme of the group’s all management strategies to 

achieve the group’s targets.

When Chairman Han Dong-woo arrived at the group as chairman in 2011, he found that the conflicts among the former top leaders occurred due to an unclear organizational structure and he proceeded to reform it and the management succession system.

He saw that major decisions for the group should not be made by the CEO alone, but should include the CEOs of the affiliates and the executives of the sectors directly affected by the decisions.

When he was retained to serve another term, Han declared the group’s 2014 management slogan, “Different Thoughts, New Beginning,” with the target of “The Realization of Creative Finance for Customers,” with vibrant activities in place to achieve that target.

 The group has selected six major tasks for 2014 including maintaining compassionate finance continuously, managing creative finance to boost its earnings, the segregation of its support to retirees who wish to set up businesses, the localization of its overseas operations, the exploration of new global financial markets, and reducing expenses on the execution of its strategies.

 “The challenging financial environment we have recently experienced will not change easily in the years to come,” the chairman said.

“The economy is expected to gradually recover in the advanced nations, but it is highly unlikely that the current trend of slow-growth will improve.

“In such an environment, the group should search for ways to stand clear of the shadow cast by the slow-growth by re-evaluating the meaning of ‘Compassionate Finance’ as the core value of our organization.

“One of the group’s missions is to benefit the world through the inherent role of finance. The aforementioned ‘inherent role of finance’ means helping customers achieve their goals through financial products and services suited for the day.

“The management of a customer’s assets to deliver good returns can also be defined as one of the most important roles of finance.

“In order for the group to overcome the era of low-growth and to solidify the group’s raison d’ tre, we need to look for better ways to achieve our fundamental roles,” Han said.

“This is how we can increase the value of our customers. As the value of our customers increases, so will the number of new customers we attract and this will eventually enhance our corporate value,” the chairman said.

“Furthermore, when we help more customers to become successful and effectively allocate resources to wherever they are needed, the overall value of the society will increase as well. When the value of our customers improves along with the value of our company and the society as a whole, we will eventually achieve our mission of benefiting the world through the power of finance,” the chairman stressed.

 Chairman Han Dong-woo has been tapped to serve another term leading the financial group at the group’s shareholders’ meeting on March 26 on account of his achievements in leading the group safely out of the so called, “Shinhan debacle,” a feud between the former top executives of the group and Shinhan Bank, the group’s key affiliate, and normalizing the group’s operations.