Samsung shareholders urged to block scion's board nomination

Seoul

A SOUTH Korean investment advisory firm is recommending that shareholders of Samsung Electronics Co vote against the nomination of vice- chairman Jay Y Lee to the company's board of directors, in what may be the first opposition to the heir-apparent's ascension.

Sustinvest Inc, a Seoul-based proxy-advisory firm, said in a letter to shareholders that Mr Lee isn't qualified to be on the board because he benefited from "inter-affiliate" transactions at the Samsung group. Such transactions are common among South Korea's conglomerates but have come under increasing scrutiny because they are viewed as profiting insiders.