With the current president of Pacific City Bank, Haeyoung Cho, set to leave the post in December, the question of who the bank will elect to lead the institution as their new president is attracting great attention.
Amid the uncertainty, Pacific City Bank has formed a nomination committee to begin the process of electing its next president. The three-member committee includes chief operating officer Kwang-jin Jeong and directors Sang-young Lee and Seok-won Yoon.
This is the first time Pacific City Bank has launched a nomination committee to elect its leader. The next president is also set to play a role in the bank appointing its future directors.
Pacific City Bank has reportedly been torn between appointing the president in-house or looking outside its own circle. If they were to appoint someone from within, chief credit officer Henry Kim and former Wilshire Bank president Jae-hwan Yoo are considered to be strong candidates.
Kim has been with Pacific City Bank since its foundation. He is a candidate who knows the ins and outs of the bank better than anybody else. However, critics say that Yoo is the more proper candidate if the bank’s goal is to grow and change.
As Pacific City Bank prepares to go public in the near future, Yoo’s experience with spearheading merger and acquisition deals may be critical. Yoo’s term as a consultant at Bank of Hope is also coming to an end to make things convenient for Pacific City Bank.
“The nomination committee has just been made,” said Jeong. “We haven’t even had a first official meeting. We’re going to discuss and create a shortlist of two to three people as we still have some time.”
Jeong added: “It is not completely impossible for [current president] Cho to stay on in her role. It’s true that she has expressed her intention to step down. It wasn’t the banks decision to part ways with her. We’re going to remain open for all possibilities. The goal is to make the decision in the best interest of our bank.”
It is expected for Pacific City Bank to begin discussing the next president beginning in late June or early July.
By Sungcheol Jin
