JB Financial Group's Board of Directors and Nomination Committee have decided to increase the number of board members by two.
Lee Myung-sang, a lawyer, and Lee Hee-seung, a female independent director, have been recommended for appointment as new independent directors at the upcoming March general meeting of shareholders.
With this decision, JB Financial Group will increase the total number of board members from nine to 11 and the number of independent directors from seven to nine.
While the current board size is not small compared to other financial holding companies in South Korea, JB Financial Group said the decision to increase the number of directors is in line with the recommendations of the "Best Practices in Corporate Governance" recently released by the Korean Financial Services Authority.
With this decision, JB Financial Group will have the largest board of directors among financial holding companies in Korea, which will strengthen its role.
The new independent director candidates, Lee Hee-seung and Lee Myung-sang, were nominated through the shareholder nomination system for independent director candidates, which JB Financial Group introduced to strengthen the transparency and fairness of the board appointment process. Lee Hee-seung was nominated by Align Partners and Lee Myung-sang was nominated by OK Savings Bank.
Lee Myung-sang is known as an expert in the financial and legal sectors, having served as a member of the Financial Development Council of the Financial Services Commission and is well-versed in finance, M&A and corporate advisory.
Lee Hee-seung is a capital market expert who was the youngest director at UBS Securities, where he served as an analyst in the research center and head of equity sales, and currently serves as a director of the investment division at Leading Ace Capital.
Lee Hee-seung's appointment will increase the proportion of female independent directors on the JB Financial Group Board to 22% from 14%, further strengthening its gender diversity and providing shareholders with the capital markets expertise they demand.
