Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo of the KB Financial Group whose appointment has been approved by the shareholders on Nov. 21 and became official. (Photo:KB)

Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo’s nomination became official when the KB Financial Group shareholders approved his appointment at their meeting on Nov. 21 at Kookmin Bank’s head office in Yeouido, Seoul. He has also taken over as the CEO of Kookmin Bank, a major affiliate of the financial group.

The new chairman said he will try to make the financial group the top financial group in the country and he will make sure to take over LIG Non-Life Insurance Co. as the group’s former chairman tried. Yoon said he will also focus on the non-banking sector of the group, especially, the insurance sector now that the population is aging with the birth rate continuing to be very low. The new chairman’s tenure ends on Nov. 20, 2017.

In response to a shareholder’s question on whether synergy can be created from the takeover of LIG, the new chairman said non-life insurers have grown fast -- almost equal to life insurers -- in business volume. LIG’s long-term insurance products take up nearly 70 percent of all non-life insurance products the company sold so far. He said those long-term non-life insurance products can create synergy with KB Financial’s existing long-term retail financial products.

Yoon said that LIG has high-quality customers, particularly when it comes to auto insurance products. He said he an’t find any good reason to cancel the former chairman’s plan to take over LIG. The new chairman also hinted that he might attempt to take over securities firms, saying they are important as far as wealth management is concerned The financial authorities have been withholding the approval of KB Financial Group’s application to take over LIG, which was submitted in August, citing management structure as the reason, with some outside directors not inclined to go along with the takeover of LIG. But Chairman Lee Kyung-jae’s resignation as chairman of the board and the expected resignations of other outside directors might pave the way for the financial group’s takeover of LIG, financial sources said.

But some don’t see many outside directors resigning immediately, with temporary Chairman Kim Young-jin calling for more patience, saying  outside directors should not be blamed for the KB incident.

Yoon also said he will run Kookmin Bank for the time being in an effort to normalize KB Financial Group by returning the bank to its normal position in the banking community as the top bank. He also said he will try to have nurture a personnel management system under which those who came up through the ranks at the bank will be appointed to top executive positions including the CEO, adding that such a base is very important for those working for the bank.

During his speech at the inaugural ceremony following the shareholders’ meeting, he said the bank has set up a task force during a temporary board meeting to set up a management succession system. The task force will listen to people in various areas, including those outside the bank, to come up with measures to set up a system.

Yoon also talked about plans to strengthen the bank’s operations by giving more power to unit heads, especially the managers of branches across the country. He said the changes will be implemented as of now so that the golden opportunity would not be missed.

The new chairman also called on every officer and staff of the bank to recover their pride in the bank, trust in the bank by the customers, with segregated strategies from rival banks. He concluded that the age of making personnel requests on behalf of others is over, along with practices of doing something to show off. Management of the bank will now be based on real actions and practices.