법무법인(유한) 율촌 | Yulchon LLC

The Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies, as amended on 3 July 2024, requires financial companies to create and maintain a responsibilities map that clearly assigns to each executive officer specific duties mandated by the Commercial Act, the Criminal Act, and other applicable financial laws, based on their role. This measure is intended to ensure that each executive officer assumes managerial responsibilities for internal controls and to facilitate the identification of the responsible executive officer in the event of a financial incident.

While the deadlines for submitting responsibilities maps to the Financial Services Commission varied by financial subsector, banks and financial holding companies faced the earliest deadline of 2 January 2025 – with no prior precedents to rely on, which required prompt and sophisticated action. In particular, as the responsibilities map was a new and unfamiliar requirement introduced for the first time in Korea, legal advice grounded in a sophisticated, multi-faceted approach was critical, particularly in areas open to interpretation. Furthermore, to accurately and reasonably allocate the duties mandated by applicable laws to each executive officer, it was essential to acquire a clear understanding of the roles of each department and executive officer and to identify potential practical challenges in advance.

In response, Yulchon’s Financial Regulation Team, drawing on its extensive expertise in the operations of banks and financial holding companies, conducted a thorough review of Woori Bank’s and Woori Finance Holdings’ bylaws and held interviews with relevant personnel to gain a comprehensive understanding of each department’s and executive officer’s roles. Based on these efforts, Yulchon provided tailored advisory services, assisting the clients in effectively allocating executive officers’ primary legal obligations mandated by applicable financial laws, as well as their responsibilities aligned with their respective business functions. As a result, Woori Bank and Woori Finance Holdings successfully prepared systematic and detailed responsibilities maps encompassing all duties and responsibilities required by the relevant legal framework.