Shinhan Financial Group has begun selecting next chief executives for 12 subsidiaries whose CEOs’ terms expire at the end of this year. It is improving succession procedures by expanding the authority of the bank’s executive candidate nomination committee and by detailing CEO evaluation criteria for each unit.

Shinhan Financial’s Subsidiary CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee held a meeting on Sunday and said it has launched succession procedures for CEOs of 12 subsidiaries whose terms expire this year.

At the meeting, the committee discussed steps to increase fairness and transparency in the process of selecting candidates for subsidiary CEOs.

It decided to share information on the pool of succession candidates with the bank nomination committee and give it authority to recommend candidates. This strengthens the nomination committee’s role and enables it to participate in the process of appointing subsidiary CEOs.

The group will also specify qualification requirements for CEOs at each subsidiary. It plans to set detailed criteria to assess candidates’ capabilities and apply them in future reviews of the candidate pool.

Following a pre-established timetable, the committee will review the succession candidate pool and narrow the list in stages. Final recommended candidates will undergo review by each subsidiary’s nomination committee and begin their terms from January next year.

The committee recommended Lim Hyun-woo (임현우), chief executive of Shinhan REITs Management, as a candidate CEO of an integrated entity to be launched through the merger of Shinhan Asset Trust and Shinhan REITs Management. The two companies are pursuing the merger with the aim of launching the combined entity in January next year.

An official from the committee said, "As the terms of CEOs of 12 subsidiaries expire this year, we will conduct in-depth reviews of the succession candidate pool and narrow the list." The official added, "We will operate a transparent and fair succession procedure to contribute to enhancing shareholder value."