Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk / Courtesy of Shinhan Bank

Heads of the country's top four financial groups and their banking subsidiaries are rushing to buy back their company shares, in a collective show of commitment to the Corporate Value-up Program and responsible management, market watchers said Friday.

Also at play are efforts to boost stock valuation for greater shareholder returns, despite concerns of their Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio undershooting the 13 percent recommended by financial authorities this year due to the Korean currency plunging against the U.S. dollar in the fourth quarter.

The ratio, as measured by a financial firm's highest-quality capital relative to risk-weighted assets, is a gauge of its liquidity profile and ability to survive a challenging monetary event.

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Yong-joo / Courtesy of Hana Financial Group

According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) electronic corporate filing, Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk bought 2,000 shares of Shinhan Financial Group at an average per share price of 48,400 won, Wednesday.

This combined with 5,000 shares he bought last April raises his share total to 15,551, excluding ones he has under an employee stock ownership plan.

Executives of Shinhan Financial including heads of compliance, audit, risk management, corporate operations and corporate finance acquired between 700 and 1,500 shares. They bought a combined 7,500 shares of the group over the past three days.

"The stock buybacks of Shinhan officials are an illustration of our commitment to responsible management and the enhanced corporate value," a Shinhan official said. "We will continue to put in place strategies for greater shareholder returns."

Similarly, Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Yong-joo and key group executives bought back shares on Dec. 31.

Ham purchased 5,000 shares at an average price of 58,862 won per share.

The group's vice chairmen, deputy presidents and executive vice presidents bought a combined 10,350 shares from last month to early this month.

"Hana's stock buyback will continue to propel the value-up drive," Ham said. "We will strengthen communication with shareholders."

Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong purchased 10,000 shares in September 2023.

KB Financial Group Chairman Yang Jong-hee has 5,914 shares of his group.

Recently, he sent handwritten letters to key overseas investors to reassure them of KB's commitment to the government-initiated Corporate Value-up Program.

KB Financial executives have bought a total of 5,084 shares from last month to Wednesday.

Hana Financial Group's net profit in the first three quarters came to 3.22 trillion won, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier.

NongHyup Financial's net income for the July-September period came to 2.31 trillion won, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.

The figure for Shinhan Financial came to 1.23 trillion won, up 3.9 percent from the previous year.

Woori Financial Group's figure came to 903.6 billion won, up 0.6 percent from the previous year. Its net income in the first nine months of 2024 amounted to 2.65 trillion won, up 9.1 percent year-on-year.

KB Financial Group reported a record-high net income of 1.61 trillion won for the third quarter, up 17.9 percent from a year earlier. The figure for the first nine months reached 4.39 trillion won.