SHINHAN FINANCIAL GROUP CO LTD

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 18, 2024

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form

20-F

(Mark One)

OR

For the fiscal year ended December 31,2023

OR

For the transition period from

to

OR

Date of event requiring this shell company report

Commission File Number:

001-31798

Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

20, Sejong-daero

9-gil,

Jung-gu

Seoul 04513,

Korea

(Address of principal executive offices)

Park Cheolwoo, +822 6360 3129 (T), cheol.park@shinhan.com, +822 6360 3098 (F), 20, Sejong-daero

9-gil,

Jung-gu, Seoul 04513,

Korea

(Name, Telephone,

E-mail

and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of Shinhan Financial Group’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the last full fiscal year covered by this Annual Report:512,759,471 shares of common stock, par value of Won 5,000 per share.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act: Yes

☒

No

☐

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: Yes

☐

No

☒

Note—Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes

☒

No

☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation

S-T

(§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes

☒

No

☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a

non-accelerated

filer, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule

12b-2

of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

☐

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. Yes

☒

No

☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. Yes

☐

No

☒

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to

§240.10D-1(b).

Yes

☐

No

☒

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow:

Item 17

☐

Item 18

☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule

12b-2

of the Exchange Act): Yes

☐

No

☒

(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Section 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court: Yes

☐

No

☒

TABLE OF CONTENTS

i

ii

CERTAIN DEFINED TERMS, CONVENTIONS AND CURRENCY OF PRESENTATION

Unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires:

All references to “Korea” or the “Republic” contained in this annual report are to the Republic of Korea. All references to the “Government” are to the government of the Republic of Korea. References to the “Financial Services Commission” are to the Financial Services Commission of Korea, and references to the “Financial Supervisory Service” are to the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea, the executive body of the Financial Services Commission.

The fiscal year for us and our subsidiaries ends on December 31 of each year. Unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, all references to a particular year are to the year ended December 31 of that year.

The currency of the primary economic environment in which we operate is Korean Won.

In this annual report, unless otherwise indicated, all references to “Korean Won”, “Won” or “W” are to the currency of the Republic of Korea, and all references to “U.S. Dollars,” “Dollars,” “$” or “US$” are to the currency of the United States of America. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations from Won to Dollars were made at W 1,291.0 to US$1.00, which was the noon buying rate in the City of New York on December 29, 2023 for cable transfers according to the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board (the “Noon Buying Rate”). On April 5, 2024, the Noon Buying Rate was W 1,352.6 to US$1.00. The Noon Buying Rate has been volatile recently and the U.S. Dollar amounts referred to in this report should not be relied upon as an accurate reflection of our results of operations. We expect this volatility to continue in the near future. No representation is made that the Won or U.S. Dollar amounts referred to in this report could have been or could be converted into Dollars or Won, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Unless otherwise indicated, the financial information presented in this annual report has been prepared on a consolidated basis in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).

Any discrepancies in the tables included herein between totals and sums of the amounts listed are due to rounding.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report includes “forward-looking statements,” as defined in Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), including statements regarding our expectations and projections for future operating performance and business prospects. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project” and similar words used in connection with any discussion of our future operating or financial performance identify forward-looking statements. In addition, all statements other than statements of historical facts included in this annual report are forward-looking statements.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. All forward-looking statements are management’s present expectations of future events and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. This annual report discloses, under the caption “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” and elsewhere, important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations (“Cautionary Statements”). Included among the factors discussed under the caption “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” are the followings risks related to our business, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: the risk of adverse impacts from an economic downturn; increased competition; market volatility in securities and derivatives markets, interest or foreign exchange rates or indices; other factors impacting our operational plans; or legislative and/or regulatory developments. We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this annual report. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the Cautionary Statements.