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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] In recent years, financial scandals such as embezzlement, fraud, and breach of trust have become increasingly frequent at domestic banks. Yet, the internal control personnel at the five major banks in Korea (KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Bank) account for only 1% of the total number of employees.
According to a report by the Korea Institute of Finance, presented at the "2025 Economic and Financial Outlook Seminar" held at the Bankers Association Building in Seoul on the 12th, internal control staff (including compliance, anti-money laundering, and legal support) at the five major banks are still insufficient compared to the number of employees and the size of their business assets.
The report, based on the governance annual reports of each bank, shows that as of the end of 2023, Bank A had only 128 internal control staff, or 0.94% of its total workforce of 13,656 employees. Bank B had 126 staff (1.0% of 12,598 employees), Bank C had 190 staff (1.19% of 16,031 employees), Bank D had 141 staff (0.99% of 14,225 employees), and Bank E had just 78 staff (excluding 377 inspectors), or 0.48% of its total workforce of 16,203 employees.
The operating assets of these five major banks range from 409.6 trillion to 533.3 trillion won. Between January 2019 and August 2023, the banks reported 72 cases of employee embezzlement, 34 cases of fraud, 16 cases of breach of trust, 9 cases of theft, and 4 cases of misappropriation.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
