Hana chief faces probe over illegal hiring
The country’s top financial regulator said Monday that it has asked prosecutors to investigate Hana Financial Chairman Kim Jeong-tae, noting that it had found he was involved in hiring irregularities
“The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has found evidence that Kim was involved in hiring irregularities while he was the chief of the banking group back in 2013, through an internal investigation. We have has asked local prosecutors to look into the allegations,” the regulator said in a statement.
KEB Hana Bank President Ham Young-joo was also allegedly involved in the hiring scandal; but the FSS didn’t elaborate further.
Hana Financial denied the allegations claiming its chairman didn’t know the name of applicants who had applied for entry-level positions or the names of their parents.
The latest move comes after a 15-day special in-house counsel team headed by deputy governor Choi Seong-il investigated former FSS governor Choi Heung-sik over rumors that he asked Kim to illegally hire the son of a colleague in 2013.
“Among the 229 new entrants who were officially given job offers for entry-level positions, 32 had been assured of employment through recommendations from former FSS governor Choi and others,” said the statement.
The FSS said its latest findings also included the involvement of Kim. Hana officials have acknowledged that hiring practices in 2013 disadvantaged applicants based on gender and the schools they attended.
“Specifically, the FSS found 16 cases were linked to the recommendations from influential figures, while other applicants made the cut from the pervasive practice of manipulating the rating process,” said the FSS statement. It added KEB Hana Bank applied different criteria to male and female applicants.
Two female applicants failed to be offered jobs as KEB Hana Bank boosted the results of the final interviews of two male applicants. “We’ve also found that applicants who graduated from prestigious local universities or had degrees from leading overseas schools received additional points, a criteria that applicants had not been notified of during the screening process,” said the regulator.
Deputy Governor Choi said in a media briefing that the FSS will hand over the details of its findings to the prosecution, and added any further actions will depend on the results of investigations by prosecutors.
Earlier, former FSS governor Choi stepped down from the position “in order to ensure the impartiality of the FSS, which is investigating employment irregularities in the financial sector.”
President Moon Jae-in immediately accepted Choi’s resignation. From 2012 until 2014, Choi was president of the Hana Financial Group, which owns KEB Hana Bank.