Sohn Tae-seung, chairman of Woori Financial Group, talks with employees of affiliates in the Conference Room of Woori Bank headquarters Building in Seoul on April 9. (Photo: Woori Financial Group)

Woori Financial Group announced on April 9 that Sohn Tae-seung, chairman of Woori Financial Group, resumed on-site management.

He did so by holding meetings with employees of all affiliates and visiting Woori Financial Capital and Woori Savings Bank, both of which the financial group took over in order to strengthen communication with employees at group affiliates.

As Chairman Sohn focuses on expanding the financial group’s business portfolio, he is giving priority to the two new affiliates incorporated after the establishment of the holding company. Sohn visited Woori Financial Capital and Woori Savings Bank, which became affiliates of the group late last year.

In particular, Sohn also had time to listen to the opinions of workers while signing up for a deposit product at the window of a branch of Woori Savings Bank.

“The new Financial Consumer Protection Act forces us to completely change our business practices in selling financial products,” Chairman Sohn said at the branch. “I ask all of our affiliates to actively work in order to make the Financial Consumer Protection Act smoothly come into effects.”

“Please make the year 2021 a year for Woori Financial Group to create the best synergies in the general financial group system and take a leap forward in the financial industry," Chairman Sohn told employees of the newly incorporated affiliates who attended the meeting.

“As Chairman Sohn announced a new vision and slogan for the third year of the group system earlier this year, his meetings with executives and employees of all affiliates will become the beginning of Woori Financial Group getting closer to customers as a financial group which can earn strong trust from customers,” said an official of Woori Financial Group.

In addition, Woori Financial Group plans to prepare for a meeting in which Chairman Sohn will directly communicate with employees of group affiliates in the field as soon as the COVID-19 situation subsides. Starting from the second quarter, the group plans to strengthen the group system by giving more support to affiliates.

On the other hand, Woori Financial Group announced on March 31 that it succeeded in issuing about 200 billion won worth of ESG bonds in the form of contingent convertible bonds. The bonds issued this time are permanent bonds with a call option.

The group’s capital adequacy is expected to slightly improve by about 10 bp as they was issued in the form of contingent convertible bonds.

“We succeeded in issuing them at the lowest spread among contingent convertible bonds issued after the launch of the holding company, thanks to investors’ high interest in ESG bonds issued for the first time since the establishment of Woori Financial Group,” said an official of Woori Financial Group.

Meanwhile, the ESG certification and rating system applied to this bond for the first time in Korea. Korea Ratings gave the highest rating of ST1 to the bond.

In a related development, Woori Financial Group announced on April 8 that it will spearhead the ESG Campaign for executives and customers to implement environmental, social, governance (ESG) management and spread an ESG corporate culture.

The campaign is designed to spread a sound ESG culture throughout our society by improving executives and employees' systematic and continuous awareness of ESG and practicing ESG.

All employees of Woori Financial Group pledged to participate in ESG management to raise their ESG awareness. They will receive education on major internal and external ESG trends through e-mails.

The financial group will also generate publicizing and educational effects by exposing ESG-related contents such as eco-friendly practice guides on PC screens.

In addition, Woori Financial Group will hold an environment protection campaign such as not using disposable products, turning off PC monitors when leaving desks and the separate collection of garbage.

If a customer or employee takes a picture of eco-friendly activities and posts it on his or her SNS channel with a hashtag, the financial group is giving eco-friendly products as gifts to those selected through a lottery.

In the second half of this year, Woori Financial Group will hold a non-face-to-face walk and donation campaign. The campaign is aimed at promoting employees’ health, protecting the environment and creating a healthy donation culture.