Hana's chairman nominee found not guilty of illegal hiring practices

Finance

Published: 11 Mar. 2022, 17:27

Hana's chairman nominee found not guilty of illegal hiring practices

Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo speaks to the press after attending the first trial at the Seoul Western District Court on Friday where he was ruled not guilty of being involved in Hana Bank's illegal hiring practices that took place in 2015 and 2016. [YONHAP]

The Seoul Western District Court on Friday ruled Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo not guilty of being involved in illegal hiring practices that took place in 2015 and 2016.

The trial has been going on since 2018.

Ham, the chairman nominee for Korea’s third-biggest financial group, was suspected of influence-peddling in the hiring process of Hana Bank in 2015 and 2016 where he allegedly manipulated the scores of other applicants in order to recruit offspring of his acquaintance.

Such illegal practices interfered with the bank’s business, according to prosecutors.

Ham was serving as the CEO of Hana Bank at the time.

The court said Friday there is no evidence that shows Ham used his power to recruit someone who is unqualified, though Ham did admit to making recommendations on specific applicants.

Ham was additionally facing a charge of allegedly ordering the bank’s human resources team to hire more males than females to make the gender proportion at the bank a one-to-four ratio, between 2013 and 2016.

The Seoul court on Friday also ruled Ham not guilty of violating the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

The court said the gender-discriminatory recruitment practices have been going on for at least 10 years at Hana Bank regardless of the bank CEO's decision-making.

“I appreciate the judge for making the ruling after going through all the evidence we explained during the trial,” Ham said to reporters on Friday after attending the trial in western Seoul.

“Taking this case as an opportunity, I want to say that I will manage the business in a more transparent and fair way.”

The clearing of Ham’s charges is expected to give a green light to the shareholders’ meeting scheduled for the end of this month where he will be voted on for his chairman nomination.

Ham, 66, was the sole candidate nominated for the bank’s three-year chairmanship by the board committee in February. If the shareholders approve, Ham will be replacing Kim Jung-tai, who has been leading the financial group for the past 10 years.

Ham had served as Hana Bank CEO between 2015 and 2019, becoming the bank's first leader after Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank merged in 2015. Ham became the vice chairman of Hana Financial Group in 2016.

However, the Friday ruling resolved most of Ham's legal baggage, but not all of it.

Ham is involved in another trial where he filed an administrative suit against the Financial Supervisory Services (FSS), requesting the cancellation of a reprimand imposed on him by the FSS over Hana Bank’s improper selling of high-risk derivative-linked funds (DLFs).

The Seoul Administrative Court is scheduled to make the ruling on Hana’s DLF case on March 14, and industry insiders are optimistic about the result.

Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung had filed a similar administrative suit against the FSS, and the Seoul court sided with Son on the first trial that took place last year.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]