Euh launches reform to get KB Financial fit

Euh Yoon-dae, the new chairman of KB Financial Group, slashed his pay by 15 percent, embarking on a campaign to tackle low productivity and inefficiency at the country’s largest financial group by asset. 

The voluntary pay cut is in line with what Euh said in his inaugural speech and it is likely to spread to other executives, a group official said Wednesday. 

“Compared with peers, KB has an inflated wage and employee structure and risks sharp bad loans increases due to its focus on specific industries,” Euh said upon his inauguration on July 13. “We need to slim down and cut costs…to achieve our vision of becoming a global bank.” 

The pay cut is just a small part of the new leader’s prescription for KB Financial, which according to him is “a patient suffering from obesity." 

A 90-man taskforce team is up and running, tasked with identifying areas for improvement to reduce costs and increase profits. 

Euh is also speeding up filling key executive positions who he hopes will assist him as he seeks to overhaul KB Financial and its units including the nation’s largest commercial bank Kookmin.