Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. Form 6-K
Table of Contents

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 under
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the Month of February 2004

SHINHAN FINANCIAL GROUP CO., LTD.

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

120, 2-Ga, Taepyung-Ro, Jung-Gu, Seoul 100-102, Korea
(Address of principal executive offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will
file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

     
Form 20-F x   Form 40-F o

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in
paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): _____   

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in
paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ______   

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the
information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

     
Yes o   No x

If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-______   .

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Board Resolution to Convene General Shareholders’ Meeting for the Fiscal Year of 2003
2. Cash Dividends
3. Detailed Information on Amendments to the Articles of Incorporation
4. Appointment of Directors
5. Appointment of Audit Committee Members
6. Grant of Stock Options
SIGNATURES


Table of Contents

1.   Board Resolution to Convene General Shareholders’ Meeting for the Fiscal Year of 2003

On February 24, 2004, the board of directors of Shinhan Financial Group made a resolution to convene the annual general shareholders’ meeting for the fiscal year of 2003 as follows:

         
1.   Date and Time   March 25, 2004 10 A.M., Seoul time.
2.   Venue   Auditorium, 20th floor / Shinhan Bank,
120, 2Ga, Taepyung-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea

3.   Agenda

  1)   Approval of balance sheet, income statement and statement of appropriation of retained earnings for fiscal year 2003 (January 1, 2003 ~ December 31, 2003).

  2)   Amendments to the Articles of Incorporation (See 3 below)

  3)   Appointment of Directors (See 4 below)

  4)   Appointment of Audit Committee Members (See 5 below)

  5)   Approval of Limitation on Director Compensation

  6)   Approval of Stock Option Grant to the Executives and department heads of Shinhan Financial Group and its Subsidiaries (See 6 below)

2.   Cash Dividends

On February 24, 2004, the board of directors of Shinhan Financial Group made a resolution to pay cash dividends for the fiscal year 2003, subject to the shareholders’ approval.

1.   Total Dividend Amount

  1)   Common Stock : KRW 158,716,764,600 (KRW 600 per share , 12% of par value and 3.24% of market price* of Common Stock)

  *   Calculation of Market price : In accordance with the related regulations in Korea, market price should be calculated by averaging closing prices of last 4 days of 2003
           
Date   Closing Price

 
30-Dec-2003
    19,050  
29-Dec-2003
    18,550  
26-Dec-2003
    18,300  
24-Dec-2003
    18,150  
  Average   18512.5 = Market price

  2)   Preferred Stock : KRW 83,397,139,955

  3)   Total : KRW 242,113,904,555

 


Table of Contents

2.   Payout Ratio (Dividend-net profit ratio)

  1)   Common Stock only: 43.82%

  2)   Common Stock and Preferred Stock : 66.84%

  *   The dividend must be approved by the annual general shareholders’ meeting scheduled on March 25, 2004 and the details may be changed in the shareholders’ meeting.

3.   Detailed Information on Amendments to the Articles of Incorporation
                 
1.   Purpose :  
1
)
  to enhance independence and specialty of the committees under the board of directors in order to increase shareholder values through improved corporate governance.
       
2
)
  to enhance the electronic disclosure of the financial statements of Shinhan Financial Group.

2.   Principal Proposals

    Break down the existing Steering Committee into the Board Steering Committee, the Outside Director recommendation Committee and the Compensation Committee.

    Make it possible to appoint a non-director executive as a vice president

    Make it possible for Shinhan Financial Group to disclose its consolidated and non-consolidated financial statements and independent auditor’s opinions in the form of electronic document pursuant to the Article 55.2 of the Financial Holding Company Act and Article 21 of the Enforcement Rules of the Regulation on Supervision of Financial Holding Companies.

3.   Comparison Table
     
Current   Proposed

 
Article 1 ~ Article 35 Omitted   Article 1~ Article 35 No Change
     
Article 36 (Election of Director) (1) Omitted   Article 36 (Election of Director) (1) No change
(2) The Outside Directors shall be recommended by the Operation Committee pursuant to Article 46 and elected at the General Meeting of Shareholders.   (2) The Outside Directors shall be recommended by the Outside Director Recommendation Committee pursuant to Article 46 and elected at the General Meeting of Shareholders.
     
Article 37 ~Article 38 Omitted   Article 37 ~ Article 38 No change

 


Table of Contents

     
Current   Proposed

 
Article 39 (Appointment of Representative Director, et al.) (1) The Company may appoint one Representative Director-Chairman and one Representative Director-President, by a resolution of the Board of Directors.
(2) The Company may appoint one Vice President from among the Directors, by a resolution of the Board of Directors.
  Article 39 ((Appointment of Representative Director, et al.)
(1) The Company may appoint one Representative Director-Chairman and one Representative Director-President, by a resolution of the Board of Directors.
(2) Deleted
     
Article 40 (Duties of Directors) (1) ~ (2)   Article 40 (Duties of Directors) (1) ~ (2)
Omitted   Omitted
(3) The Vice President and Directors shall assist the Representative Director, and perform their respective duties as may be delegated to them by the Board of Directors.   (3) Directors shall assist the Representative Director, and perform their respective duties as may be delegated to them by the Board of Directors.
     
Article 41 ~ Article 45 Omitted   Article 41 ~ Article 45 No change
     
Article 46 (Committees) (1) The Company may have the following committees within the Board of Directors.   Article 46 (Committees) (1) The Company may have the following committees within the Board of Directors.
   1. Operation Committee (Steering Committee)      1. Board Steering Committee
   2. Audit Committee
       New provision
     2. Audit Committee
   3. Risk Management Committee      3. Outside Director Recommendation Committee
       New provision      4. Risk Management Committee
       5. Compensation Committee
(2) Details regarding composition, power, operation, etc. of each committee shall be determined by the resolution of the Board of Directors. Provided that, the Operation Committee referred to in Paragraph (1), Subparagraph 1 shall satisfy the composition requirements of the Outside Director Candidate Recommendation Committee as set forth in the Financial Holding Company Act.   (2) Details regarding composition, power, operation, etc. of each committee shall be determined by the resolution of the Board of Directors.

(3) No change
(3) Articles 42, 44 and 45 shall apply mutatis mutandis with respect to the committees.    
     
Article 47 ~ Article 52   Omitted   Article 47 ~ Article 52   No change
     
Article 53 (Preparation and Maintenance of Financial Statements and Business Report)   Article 53 (Preparation and Maintenance of Financial Statements and Business Report)
(1) (2) (3) Omitted   (1) (2) (3) No change
(4) Immediately upon obtaining approval for the documents mentioned in Paragraph (1) above from the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Representative Director-President shall make a public notice of the balance sheet, income statement, consolidated financial statements pursuant to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies and the opinion of an external outside auditor.

New provision
  (4) Immediately upon obtaining approval for the documents mentioned in Paragraph (1) above from the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Representative Director-President shall make a public notice of the balance sheet, income statement, consolidated financial statements pursuant to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies and the opinion of an external outside auditor. In doing so, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4, the Company may use the means of electronic document as prescribed by Article 55.2 of the Financial Holding Company Act.
Addenda (3)
    1. (Enforcement date) Above provisions shall take effect from March 25, 2004.

 


Table of Contents

4.   Appointment of Directors

The following is the list of directors recommended through the resolution of BOD meeting, subject to the shareholders’ approval.

             
Name   Tenure   Positions to be held   New appointment

 
 
 
Eung Chan Ra   3 years   Director    
Young Hwi Choi   3 years   Director    
In Ho Lee   3 years   Director    
Young Seok Choi   3 years   Director    
Yong Woong Yang   3 years   Director   New appointment
Pyung Joo Kim   1 year   Outside Director    
In Sup Kim   1 year   Outside Director    
Sang Yoon Lee   1 year   Outside Director   New appointment
Yoon Soo Yun   1 year   Outside Director   New appointment
Sang Chul Lee   1 year   Outside Director   New appointment
Byung Hun Park   1 year   Outside Director    
Moon Pil Oh   1 year   Outside Director    
Young Soo Lee   1 year   Outside Director    
Dong Hyun Kwon   1 year   Outside Director   New appointment
Philippe Reynielx   1 year   Outside Director   New appointment

5.   Appointment of Audit Committee Members

Among the nominated directors, Young Seok Choi, In Sup Kim, Sang Yoon Lee, Moon Pil Oh, and Dong Hyun Kwon was recommended as candidate of the audit committee members of 2004 through the resolution of the audit committee meeting. The appointment of audit committee members must be approved by the shareholders’ meeting.

6.   Grant of Stock Options

A.   Grant of Stock Options to Executives and Officers

 


Table of Contents

  1)   Grantees: A total of 27 executives and officers of Shinhan Financial Group and its subsidiaries (Shinhan Bank, Shinhan Card, Shinhan Capital, and Shinhan Credit Information) — See A.7 below for details

  2)   Number of options to be granted : stock options to purchase 705,000 shares in total

  3)   Exercise price : Minimum exercise price calculated in accordance with Article 84.9 of the Securities Exchange Act Enforcement Decrees of Korea.

  o   Determination of exercise price: Based on the arithmetic mean of the three trading volume-weighted averages of closing prices during the 2-month, 1-month and 1-week periods counting backwards from the grant date

  4)   Date of grant: March 25, 2004

  5)   Exercise period : Exercisable during the 3 year period after the second anniversary from the grant date.

  6)   Method of share issuance : Shinhan Financial Group will, at its option, to choose between the following two methods (or the combination of the two).

  o   to issue new shares at the exercise price; or

  o   to pay the grantees cash in an amount to the difference between the market price of shares at the exercise date and exercise price

  7)   Details of Stock Options Granted to Executives and Officers
                 
Company   Title   Name   No. of Shares

 
 
 
SFG   Chairman   Eung Chan Ra  
100,000

    President & CEO   Young Hwi Choi  
90,000

    Senior Exe. VP   Bhang G.il Choi  
30,000

    Senior Exe. VP   Chil Sun Hong  
20,000

    Senior Exe. VP   Hee Soo Kim  
20,000

    Senior Exe. VP   Byung Jae Cho  
20,000

    Senior Exe. VP   Baek Soon Lee  
20,000

Shinhan Bank   President   S.H. Shin  
80,000

    Standing Auditor   H.S. Moon  
20,000

    Dep. President   J.W. Lee  
20,000

    Dep. President   Y. K. Lim  
20,000

    Dep. President   W. S. Cho  
20,000

    Dep. President   M. K. Han  
20,000

    Dep. President   Y.S. Song  
20,000

    Dep. President   D.H. Han  
20,000

    Dep. President   J.W. Suh  
20,000

    Dep. President   S.K. Yang  
20,000

    Exe. VP   S.Y Oh  
15,000

 


Table of Contents

                 
Company   Title   Name   No. of Shares

 
 
 
Shinhan Card   President   S.K. Hong  
30,000

    Standing Auditor   T.K. Lee  
10,000

    Dep. CEO   S.W. Kim  
10,000

    Dep. CEO   W.Y. Shim  
10,000

    Dep. CEO   M.H. Kim  
10,000

Shinhan Capital   President
Vice President
  D.G. Lee S.D. Kim  

30,000
10,000


    Vice President   S.K. Oh  
10,000

Shinhan Credit Information   CEO   B.S. Shim  
10,000

           


    Total      
705,000

           



B.   Grant of Stock Options to Department Heads

  1)   Grantees : Department heads of Shinhan Financial Group and its subsidiaries

  2)   Number of options to be granted : Stock options to purchase up to 700,000 shares in total. Specific number of options granted to each individual will be determined in consideration of the evaluation results of the relevant individual as well as the company where such individual works.

  *   The board of directors of Shinhan Financial Group has entrusted the CEO with the authority to decide the grantees and the numbers of options to be granted to each individual and the decision will be approved by the annual general shareholders’ meeting on March 25, 2004.

  3)   Exercise price: Minimum exercise price calculated in accordance with Article 84.9 of the Securities Exchange Act Enforcement Decrees

  4)   Date of grant: March 25, 2004

  5)   Exercise period: Exercisable during the 3 year period after the second anniversary from the grant date.

  6)   Method of share issuance : Shinhan Financial Group will, at its option, to choose between the following two methods (or the combination of the two).

  o   to issue new shares at the exercise price; or

  o   to pay the grantees cash in an amount to the difference between the market price of shares at the exercise date and exercise price.

 


Table of Contents

SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

      

     
    SHINHAN FINANCIAL GROUP CO., LTD.
 
    By   /s/ Byung Jae Cho

Name: Byung Jae Cho
Title:  Chief Financial Officer
 
Date : February 24, 2004