EY Han Young teams up with Pathfinder to strengthen independent director expertise

EY Han Young, a global accounting and consulting firm, has joined forces with Pathfinder, a talent recommendation firm specializing in independent directors and executives, to strengthen board expertise at South Korean companies and spread advanced governance practices.

EY Han Young announced Thursday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Pathfinder on Wednesday at its Parc.1 office in Yeouido, Seoul, with Lee Kwang-yeol, head of EY Han Young's audit division, and Kim Jae-ho, chief executive of Pathfinder, in attendance.

Under the agreement, the two firms will jointly operate a professional education program for independent director candidates and provide broad support for companies' sustainable growth and board competitiveness.

Demand has been growing — particularly among listed companies — for boards with expertise spanning finance, risk management, internal controls, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and AI. The partnership is designed to help independent directors and board members develop the practical capabilities needed to carry out their oversight and decision-making roles in this evolving business environment.

Under the MOU, Pathfinder will draw on its talent network to identify and recommend participants for education seminars. EY Han Young will provide the seminars, drawing on its expertise in accounting and finance, internal controls, risk management, ESG and AI transformation to deliver the latest regulatory trends and practical insights.

The two companies plan to continuously refine their educational content and programs so that boards can move beyond formal decision-making and make a meaningful contribution to corporate value creation and risk management.

"Sustainable corporate growth depends not only on management but on the capabilities of the board that oversees it," Lee said. "We will support Korean companies in building a solid governance foundation suited to a rapidly changing environment."

"As the roles and responsibilities required of independent directors continue to expand, we hope this collaboration helps candidates gain a deeper understanding of those changes and contributes to spreading a more advanced board culture," Kim said.

Meanwhile, EY Han Young posted total sales of 764.8 billion won ($558 million) and an operating profit of 13.9 billion won for fiscal year 2024, which ran from July 2024 to June 2025.