Woori Financial chair orders junior employees to monitor, report misconduct

By Lee Kyung-min

About a dozen entry- and low-level employees of Woori Financial Group and its affiliates will monitor for and report any suspected irregularities to the group’s compliance office at the order of Chairman Yim Jong-yong, according to Woori officials, Thursday.

This is the latest in a slew of employee misconduct prevention measures, prompted by repeated questionable lending and business practices at the group.

Most alarming were embezzlements in tens of billions of won by bank officials as well as over 31 billion won ($21 million) in poorly granted loans under the tenure of former Chairman Son Tae-seung. Many senior group and bank officials were questioned and indicted including Son.

Yim's move follows a judgment that years of failed internal control will not result in any meaningful breakthroughs, unless the current method of supervision and oversight takes a dramatically different approach.

According to the group, Compliance Lab 360, an oversight body comprising the group’s bank, card, capital, asset trust and savings bank affiliates, was launched last week.

Of the 21 employees, nine are entry- and low-level workers. The remaining 12 hold manager positions or higher.

They will closely monitor irregularities in lending and business activities and report to the group immediately if signs of suspicious activities are detected.

The 21 employees will work separately from 57 newly appointed internal control specialists at the bank’s sales departments.

The 57 specialists will focus primarily on monthly audits and outline new supervision requirements based on the characteristics of each branch.

In contrast, the lab members will report on areas that remain neglected and unaddressed despite ongoing or potential incidents.

Late last month, Woori Bank launched a fraud detection system as part of its corruption prevention measures.

Woori was the first among the country's leading commercial lenders to implement a digitalized anti-corruption system.

The computerized system will flag large-volume, irregular transactions, including falsified data during loan screening.

The new system will then send alerts to the responsible department employees, triggering an immediate investigation.

“We will continue to strengthen internal control,” a Woori official said.