Vice President Kim Byung-ho of Hana Bank was officially inaugurated president and CEO in a ceremony on Feb. 10, following shareholder and board approval for the two-year term in their meetings held on Feb. 10, the bank announced.
The new president said at the ceremony that strengthening the customer base of the bank is the top priority as it is the foundation for the bank’s core area for its earnings, which will ensure its sustainability in the future. He will strengthen the marketing part for corporate customers and also collective marketing of the bank with detailed marketing programs for niche markets.
The new CEO also said the bank should recover its traditional reputation as a top bank in terms of stability of assets and risk control by rebuilding its organizational structure with a balanced loan provision portfolio that includes large institutions, small institutions and households as borrowers. Kim also intends to strengthen the jobsite centered risk control for preemptive risk management and prior analysis of credit risks for large loans.
The new president said the activities to build the “one bank” foundation to prepare for the integration of Hana and KEB should be continued, although the court suspended them at the request of KEB’s union. “We ought to work for the chemical integration as opposed to the material integration,” Kim said.
Kim also said he will see cultural exchanges among the two banks’ departments expanded with the programs for sentimental and human integration through joint events for families of the officers and employees. Such events will infuse people with the sense that they are in the same boat.
He also said the departments of the two banks, in such areas as marketing and other profit-making sectors, should cooperate with each other in such activities as ads, and public relations to maximize synergy between the two banks even before the integration. He also pledged to delegate more approval rights to managers of branches and headquarters, so that they will be able to adjust their operations in tune with the financial needs of the regions they operate in.
The new CEO is an English major graduate of Seoul National University and earned his MBA from the University of California at Berkeley. He entered Hana Investment Finance Co. in 1987, which later became Hana Bank. Kim was the vice president at the Hana Financial Holding Co., and switched to Hana Bank to become vice president. He became the acting president in November last year, as the presidency became vacant with the resignation of the former president, Kim Jong-joon.
The new president has ruled out a personnel shake-up, especially for the executives, which led reporters to believe that many executives at the two banks would continue to be in charge of their responsible areas when the banks are merged.
Hana Bank sources said Kim has held key positions in the bank and has a very good understanding of the bank’s operations, as he was being groomed to take over the top position of the bank.
Kim is now being mentioned to be the first head of the newly merged bank, provided his ability to run the bank as the CEO is satisfactory.
