KB Financial Chief Director Cho Dam quits

South Korea's new policy limiting outside directors to a maximum five year term prompts Cho's resignation.

Cho is the third outside director to offer to resign from KB Financial's board recently. Kim Han and Byun Bo-kyung, two of the group's nine outside directors, expressed their intention to resign last week, according to a report in Trading Markets.

The latest resignation led KB Financial to cut the number of members of a committee for nominating new non-executive directors down to five, which previously had all nine of the outside directors as its members.

The changes came as the government has tried to increase the independence of outside directors and curb cronyism between directors and company executives at banking groups.

Non-executive directors have been criticized for turning a blind eye to risky decisions by local banks that resulted in massive losses, particularly in light of the recent global financial crisis.