KB Financial Group has been chosen as the No. 1 local company for corporate governance for 2012 by the Corporate Governance Service.

The CGS named the nine best companies in corporate governance on Tuesday, and KB Financial topped the list, outperforming the 2011 champion POSCO and 2011’s second-best player KT&G.

The yearly assessment by the private research institute monitoring corporate activities includes sectors such as governance, social responsibility and the environment.

In particular, KB Financial is one of only six local players that received an A+ in the corporate social responsibility rating among 710 local enterprises. The group was also selected as one of the four best performers in the CSR sector in 2011.

KB Financial has been taking every chance to expand its cause marketing through donations and philanthropic works for improved customer relations and stronger connections with society.

“It is in our best interest to support causes for those in need and communicate better with our customers,” a group spokesman said.

Doosan Infracore among enterprises listed on the Korea Exchange and Daum Communications among those on the tech-filled Kosdaq market both rankled second.

The six other prize winners were SK hynix, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, S-Oil, SFA, POSCO Chemtech and Kolon Life Science.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)