Kim Kyu-bin, chief executive of Toss Securities, has moved to strengthen ethics, compliance and internal controls immediately after securing a second term. With the CEO personally heading an internal control review task force and compliance capability factored into personnel evaluations and compensation, the brokerage is overhauling its control framework to keep pace with its rapid growth.
Toss Securities said on the 18th that Kim attended an "Ethics and Compliance Declaration Ceremony" held on the 15th at the company's headquarters in Seoul's Gangnam District, where he pledged compliance practices alongside all employees. Kim said the company would make compliance and financial consumer protection top management priorities and strengthen related systems.
Kim will serve as head of the internal control review task force himself. The chief compliance officer, the chief consumer protection officer and the compliance, consumer protection, IT control and product divisions will participate, reviewing all operations that could affect investors by the end of the year. The company plans to supplement control mechanisms as needed based on the review's findings.
Compliance capability will also be reflected in personnel decisions and pay. The company will factor compliance considerations into appointments to managerial posts and compensation adjustments, and will treat understanding of regulatory requirements and compliance performance as key evaluation criteria for roles involving product and service planning and design. All employees must complete a financial ethics course within this year. Enhanced internal control training will be mandatory for product planning and IT and development staff.
The measures follow immediately after Kim's reappointment was confirmed. Toss Securities reappointed him as an inside director and chief executive through an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and a board meeting on the 8th. It is the first time a Toss Securities chief executive has been reappointed since the brokerage launched in 2021, and the new term runs through October 2028.
Since taking office in October 2024, Kim has expanded both earnings and the user base. Toss Securities posted record half-year results in the first half of this year, with revenue of 845.8 billion won ($591 million), operating profit of 319.5 billion won ($223 million) and net profit of 236.8 billion won ($166 million). In July, cumulative registered users surpassed 10 million. In his second term, Kim appears to be putting weight on improving the stability of the internal control framework alongside continued growth.
"This ceremony is a promise by all our employees to become the most trusted brokerage," Kim said. "We will steadily strengthen internal controls on both the institutional and cultural fronts so that we can keep today's promise through our daily actions."