Commonwealth bank is the bank of Australia however; it has its operations across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom. It is interesting to note that Commonwealth bank is the second largest bank of Australia by market capitalization. The Commonwealth bank has been providing the financial services including retail and business banking, funds management, insurance, investment and broking services. The name of the bank has been given to it’s because of the variety of financial services offered by the bank. Commonwealth bank is listed on Australian Securities Exchange. After developing a good position in the world market, the Commonwealth bank started its some brands which are working under its brand name including BankWest, ASB Bank, Commonwealth Securities Limited, Colonial First State Investments Limited, and Commonwealth Insurance Limited. The Commonwealth bank was founded by the Australian Government in 1911 and it was listed on the stock exchange in 1991. The privatization of Commonwealth bank was carried out in 1996. 

Today, Commonwealth bank is one of the profitable banks in the banking industry and on 14 August 2008, the bank declared the profit of $4.7 billion. There are about 1011 branches of the bank. One of the major reasons of the success of Commonwealth bank is its commitment to its mission. The Commonwealth bank has good workforce which is also committed to attain the overall mission of the bank. Similarly the bank has been also giving a great focus towards corporate social responsibility. 

Basically the corporate social responsibility has become the need of all organizations working in the world. It is not only important to develop the social image, but it is also important to ensure that the company has been fulfilling the rights of societies. The discussion of corporate social responsibility from Commonwealth bank perspective is important because the bank has been fulfilling it with its full responsibility. One major issue was faced by the bank in 2002, when it had 16% stakes in the wood-chipping company Gunns Limited. This company was involved in the logging of old forests and Commonwealth bank came under fire by Wilderness Society. The bank claimed that it has only invested in the company through its funds management business. However, the bank faced the criticism that it has the second largest stakes in the company. As a corporate social responsibility and to eliminate the false controversies against the bank, it used its shareholder voting right and in the general meeting of 2003 the bank stopped Gunns to destroy the old forests. 

The bank has taken many initiatives to solve the environmental issues because it also has 8.2% stakes of Hazelwood power station, which is a carbon intensive power station.  The bank has developed an organization, Conservation Volunteers Australia which awards the young people for their contribution in the protection and improvement of environment. The policy of the bank also communicates to the employees to efficiently use the energy resources, water and paper. Through its Great Barrier Reef foundation – Coral Futures and World First toner-recycling scheme, the bank is able to contribute a lot in combating the environmental issues. Although many banks are not focusing on such social responsibility practices however, those which focus ultimately get advantages and this is evident from the well maintained position of Commonwealth bank. 

In conclusion, we always discuss the products and services of banks and their offers for the customers however; we never give contribution to the banks like Commonwealth bank which really made efforts towards corporate social responsibility.