Lee Chan-jin, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, urged the chairpersons of eight bank holding companies to appoint subsidiary chief executives on capability rather than factional or personal ties. At a September 23 meeting with the head of the Korea Federation of Banks, Lee called for transparent procedures covering candidate selection, verification, evaluation and decision-making records, and said subsidiary executive candidate recommendation committees must play a substantive role rather than simply approve holding-company nominees. The push comes as 54 subsidiary CEO terms at five major financial groups expire by year-end, including the heads of the five major banks. BNK Financial and Shinhan Financial have begun revising their procedures to give subsidiary committees greater access to candidate information and recommendation rights. The broader succession drive follows concerns that many groups use abstract qualification standards, lack minimum verification periods and manage candidate pools only formally. Separately, the Financial Supervisory Service has raised concerns over banks’ spending in competitive bids for local government treasury contracts and ordered scrutiny of the soundness and profitability of those expenditures. Banking-sector financial accidents reached 47 cases totaling 170.82 billion Korean won from January through July, exceeding full-year 2023 totals of 33 cases and 69.69 billion won. Holding company chairpersons said they would review appointment procedures and provide more resources for internal controls, while critics warned that prescriptive supervisory rules could blur responsibility and amount to personnel interference.