Shinhan Securities headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Shinhan Securities

By Lee Min-hyung

Shinhan Securities CEO Kim Sang-tae

Shinhan Securities is moving to seek a fresh breakthrough by carrying out a reshuffle of top management.

Under the latest decision by Shinhan Financial Group, the securities arm will drop its dual leadership system and introduce a new one headed by a single leader from the beginning of 2023.

Shinhan Securities' co-CEO Kim Sang-tae will take on the post as the new sole leader of the brokerage house. His term will end at the end of next year. Kim took office as co-CEO back in March, and has been in charge of the firm's global investment banking operations. The other co-CEO Lee Yung-chang will leave the company after finishing his three-year term.

The organizational reshuffle is seen as part of Shinhan's efforts to enhance its competitiveness in the investment banking industry and create a change of atmosphere during a bear market. Kim served as the president of Mirae Asset Securities' investment banking business before moving to the Shinhan subsidiary.

"Kim underscores the urgent need to regain the market's trust and is recognized for his aggressive sales mindset," a spokesman at Shinhan said. "He is also renowned for exuding unwavering leadership and unmatched management skills while serving as the co-CEO of the company."

The new leader is expected to focus on normalizing Shinhan Securities' falling earnings. The brokerage generated an operating profit of 31.8 billion won in the third quarter, down 76.9 percent from a year ago, amid plunging commissions from stock trading as market sentiment took an abrupt turn for the worse this year after the U.S. Federal Reserve started its aggressive rate hikes.

Shinhan Securities chalked up a brokerage commission revenue of 240 billion won during the first three quarters of this year combined, down 40.4 percent from a year earlier. But it made up for the earnings fall through the investment banking business. The company's investment banking commission revenue reached 215.5 billion won between January and September, up 48.3 percent from the previous year.