Former FSC chief Shin Je-yoon likely to be tapped as Samsung board chair

Shin Je-yoon, former chairman of South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), will likely assume the role of Samsung Electronics Co.'s board chairman.

Industry sources said on Friday he will be named the leading candidate for the job at Samsung’s board meeting on Feb. 18, when the company is slated to shortlist internal and external director candidates.

Shin, now an advisor at Seoul-based law firm Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, is already a Samsung Electronics board member after joining the company as an outside director in March 2024.

If confirmed, Shin will be appointed to the post at Samsung’s next board meeting in March. His appointment requires approval at the firm’s general shareholder meeting in late March.

Samsung is tapping him as its next board chairman as the incumbent, Kim Han-jo, former head of the Hana Financial Group Foundation, will step down in March after completing his maximum six-year term as an outside director.

A veteran economic policymaker, Shin is viewed as the top candidate to lead Samsung’s board of directors thanks to his expertise in domestic and global economic and financial issues, sources said.

DRASTIC BOARD RESHUFFLES EXPECTED

Samsung's board of directors is expected to undergo significant changes this year.

In addition to Kim, the terms of two inside directors and one outside director are set to expire in March.

They are outside director Kim Jun-sung, chief investment officer of the National University of Singapore Endowment Fund; and internal directors Roh Tae-moon, president and chief of Samsung’s Mobile eXperience (MX) division, and former Samsung memory business chief Lee Jung-bae.

Roh Tae-moon, commonly known as TM Roh, is widely expected to serve a second term as internal board director.

Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun, who returned as head of Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division and memory business last May, will likely be appointed as a new internal director, sources said.

NEW OUTSIDE DIRECTORS

The market is also keen to learn who will be appointed as the two new outside directors as Samsung, the world’s No. 1 memory chipmaker, faces criticism that its board lacks technical experts.

Industry watchers said specialists in the semiconductor or artificial intelligence sectors will likely be brought on board.

Last year, Cho Hye-kyung, a robotics expert and professor at Hansung University, joined Samsung’s board as a new outside director.

Discussions on the much-talked-about revival of the Samsung control tower or reinstatement of Chairman Lee Jae-yong as a registered director are unlikely at next week’s board meeting.

LEGAL CASE INVOLVING JAY Y. LEE

Market speculation had it that Lee, widely known in international circles as Jay Y. Lee, may return as a registered director following a court ruling on a case involving him.

Earlier this month, the Seoul High Court upheld the lower court's ruling last year dismissing all charges against him related to the controversial merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015, which prosecutors said was designed to tighten his control of Samsung Group, the country’s top conglomerate.

In January 2024, a lower court cleared Lee of all charges related to the $8 billion 2015 merger between Samsung C&T Corp. and Cheil Industries Co.

Market watchers said Lee will likely undertake major organizational reforms, including establishing a new corporate control tower, restructuring the board, and replacing some affiliate executives to restore internal discipline.

Earlier this week, prosecutors appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim and Jeong-Soo Hwang at why29@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.