Credit Finance Association to Open Applications for Next Chair Starting May 6

The Credit Finance Association will begin recruiting candidates on May 6 as it moves into full-scale preparations to select its next chair, financial industry officials said. The appointment could be finalized as early as June.

According to the financial sector on May 5, the association held a board meeting the previous day and approved in writing a plan to form its chair nomination committee. The committee will have 15 members: 14 representatives from member companies — seven from card issuers and seven from capital companies — plus one auditor. The committee will be chaired by Seong Young-su, CEO of Hana Card.

The association plans to post the election notice on May 6 and accept applications through May 19. It will narrow the field through a document review on May 27.

On June 4, candidates will be interviewed and committee members will hold a secret ballot. If the vote produces a single nominee, the nominee will be confirmed through a general meeting and must win a majority vote to be formally appointed chair.

If the nominee comes from the private sector, the process is expected to conclude at a general meeting in June. If the nominee is a public official, the association is expected to hold a general meeting in July because the candidate must undergo an employment review under the Public Service Ethics Act.

The association has been led by an acting chair for more than seven months since the term of Chair Jeong Wan-gyu ended in October last year. The delay is attributed to uncertainty in senior government personnel schedules amid discussions on reorganizing financial authorities, along with the expiration of terms for some member company CEOs, officials said.

Industry officials say the sector needs a leader who can convey to the government and the National Assembly the challenges facing the industry amid fee and lending regulations. Names mentioned include Seo Tae-jong, former head of the Korea Financial Training Institute, and Kim Geun-ik, former chief of the Korea Exchange market surveillance committee. Private-sector names include Lee Dong-cheol, former vice chairman of KB Financial Group, and Woo Sang-hyeon, former vice president of BC Card. In academia, Kim Sang-bong, an economics professor at Hansung University, has also been cited.