Editing Commonwealth Bank (section)

==History==
===Foundation (1911–1919)===
{{See also|Reserve Bank of Australia}}
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was established by the ''Commonwealth Bank Act 1911'', introduced by the [[Andrew Fisher]] [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] government, which favoured bank [[nationalisation]], with effect on 22 December 1911.<ref name="CN_MP-TDMP2-R-02">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rba.gov.au/about-rba/history/|title=Reserve Bank of Australia : A Brief History|website=rba.gov.au|access-date=5 December 2018}}</ref><ref name="CN_MP-TDMP2-R-03">{{Cite web|url=http://advance-australia.com.au/upfiles/the_story_of_the_commonwealth_bank.pdf|title=Story of Commonwealth Bank|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=1 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301131035/https://advance-australia.com.au/upfiles/the_story_of_the_commonwealth_bank.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a rare move for the time, the bank was to have both savings and general bank business. The bank was also the first bank in Australia to receive a federal government guarantee. The bank's earliest and most strenuous proponent was the flamboyant American-Australian Labor politician [[King O'Malley]], and its first governor was Sir [[Denison Miller]].

The bank opened its first branch in [[Melbourne]] on 15 July 1912.<ref>{{cite book|title=Australia Through Time|publisher=Random House Australia|year=2004|isbn=0-75931-002-5|page=191}}</ref> In an agreement with [[Australia Post]] that exists to this day, the bank also traded through post office agencies. In 1912, it took over the [[State Savings Bank of Tasmania]], and by 1913 it had branches in all six states.

In 1916, the bank moved its head office to [[Sydney]]. It also followed the Australian army into [[New Guinea]], where it opened a branch in [[Rabaul]] and agencies elsewhere.

===Central bank (1920–1959)===
{{more citations needed|paragraph|date=July 2021}}
[[File:CBA Martin Place 001.jpg|left|thumb|270x270px|The [[Commonwealth Trading Bank Building]] (1916-1960)]]
In 1920, the bank began acquiring [[central bank]] powers when it took over the responsibility for the issue of Australian bank notes from the Department of the Treasury.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://about.commbank.com.au/group_display/0,1922,CH2054,00.html |title=Commonwealth Bank – History – A brief history of the Commonwealth Bank |publisher=About.commbank.com.au |access-date=2012-07-14}}</ref> Also in 1920, the Commonwealth Bank took over the [[Queensland Government Savings Bank]].

In 1924, the federal government of [[Stanley Bruce]] sought to place further checks and limits on the powers of the governor of the bank, and passed the  ''Commonwealth Bank Act, 1924'', which created a seven-member Board of Directors comprising the governor, the Secretary of the Treasury, and six directors "actively engaged in agriculture, commerce, finance or industry", and a Chairman of the Board elected annual from its members.<ref>{{cite web |title=Commonwealth Bank Act 1924 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C1924A00015 |website=Federal Register of Legislation |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=19 December 2022 |date=20 August 1924}}</ref> The first six board members were appointed on 10 October 1924: [[John Garvan|Sir John Garvan]], [[Robert Gibson (businessman)|Sir Robert Gibson]], [[Samuel Hordern|Sir Samuel Hordern]], [[Robert McComas]], Richard Samuel Drummond, and John McKenzie Lees.<ref name=board1>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232474493 |title=Government Gazette Appointments and Employment |newspaper=[[Commonwealth of Australia Gazette]] |issue=75 |location=Australia, Australia |date=16 October 1924 |accessdate=19 December 2022 |page=1954 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16169893 |title=COMMONWEALTH BANK. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=4 October 1924 |accessdate=19 December 2022 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Garvan was appointed as the first chairman on 13 October 1924.<ref name=garvan>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201426560 |title=Commonwealth Bank. |newspaper=[[The Evening News (Rockhampton)|The Evening News]] |issue=687 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=14 October 1924 |accessdate=19 December 2022 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In 1931, the bank board came into conflict with the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] government of [[James Scullin]]. The bank's chairman Sir Robert Gibson refused to expand credit in response to the [[Great Depression]], as had been proposed by Treasurer [[Ted Theodore|Edward Theodore]] unless the government cut pensions, which Scullin refused to do. The conflict surrounding this issue led to the fall of the government, and to demands from Labor for reform of the bank and more direct government control over monetary policy.

Also in 1931, it took over the savings bank business of the [[Government Savings Bank of New South Wales]] (est. 1871), the current account and fixed deposit business of the NSW Rural Bank Department, and the State Savings Bank of Western Australia (est. 1863).

In 1942, the Commonwealth Banking Corporation (CBC) suspended its operations in [[Papua New Guinea]] as the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] captured many of the towns in which it operated, and bombed [[Port Moresby]]. The bank resumed operations later, possibly in 1944.

The bank had many branches across Papua New Guinea including Port Moresby, Boroko, Rabaul, Lae, Wau, Bulolo, Goroka, Kavieng, Madang, Mount Hagen, Kundiawa, Popondetta, and Wewak. On Bougainville, there was Kieta, Panguna, Arawa and early on a part-time sub-branch at Loloho. It maintained those facilities to support trade, local business, government, and small savers.

The Commonwealth Bank received almost all central bank powers in emergency legislation passed during [[World War II]] and at the end of the war, it used this power to begin a dramatic expansion of the economy. This was also the aim of the federal government at the time, which attempted to compel the Australian states to conduct their banking with the Commonwealth under the ''Banking Act 1945'' (Cth), but the High Court in ''Melbourne Corporation v Commonwealth'' (1947) 74 CLR 31, blocked this move.

In August 1945, the federal government of [[Ben Chifley]] passed the ''Commonwealth Bank Act, 1945'', which repealed the 1925 act and abolished the Board of Directors, returning full executive control of the bank to the governor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Commonwealth Bank Act 1945 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C1945A00013 |website=Federal Register of Legislation |date=3 August 1945 |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref>

The government also dramatically expanded immigration programs. In response, the bank established a Migrant Information Service (later known as the Australian Financial & Migrant Information Service, or AFMIS). The bank expanded during this period, and in just five years it opened hundreds of branches throughout Australia and in 1951 it established a branch in the [[Solomon Islands]].

In 1958 and 1959, there was a controversy concerning the dual functions of the organization, operating as the central bank on the one hand and a commercial bank on the other. As a result, the government separated the two roles, creating the [[Reserve Bank of Australia]] to exercise the central bank function, and leaving the Commonwealth Banking Corporation to operate purely as a commercial bank. Those commercial functions were exercised by the organization's constituent sections: the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia, and the newly formed Commonwealth Development Bank.

From 1958 to 1976 the Commonwealth Bank operated savings bank agencies in the [[New Hebrides]].

===Diversification (1960–1991)===
[[File:Commonwealth Bank old logo.jpg|right|thumb|1980s logo]]
A new Commonwealth Development Bank was established in 1960 and during the 1970s the bank diversified its business into areas like insurance and travel. It established a finance company, CBFC in 1974. The bank also became more heavily involved in foreign currency trading and international banking in general.

The bank actively supported the introduction of [[decimal currency]] in the years leading up to 1966 and, like most banks, it gradually converted its paper records onto a new computer-based system. The bank created the first [[credit card]] in Australia in 1974 when it established [[Bankcard]]. In later years the bank began offering [[MasterCard]] (1984) and [[Visa (credit card)|Visa]] (1993) cards as well.

In 1974, as [[Papua New Guinea]] approached independence, the bank formally handed over its PNG operations to the newly created and government-owned [[Bank South Pacific|Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation]] (PNGBC).  The bank retained a restricted branch in Port Moresby that it finally closed in 1982.

In 1981 the bank transferred its operations in the [[Solomon Islands]] to the [[National Bank of Solomon Islands]], which operated as a joint venture (51% Commonwealth Bank, 49% Government of the Solomon Islands).

In 1989 the bank acquired 75 per cent of [[ASB Bank]] in [[New Zealand]].

In 1991 the bank acquired the failing Victorian Government-owned [[State Bank of Victoria]] (est. 1842).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dixon|first=Robyn|author-link=Robyn Dixon (journalist)|date=2019-08-23|title=From the Archives, 1990: Victoria sells debt-laden State Bank|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/from-the-archives-1990-victoria-sells-debt-laden-state-bank-20190819-p52iml.html|access-date=2021-08-11|website=[[The Age]]|language=en}}</ref>

===Privatisation (1991–present)===
[[File:Commonwealth Bank.svg|thumb|Logo used until 2020]]
[[File:(1)Commonwealth Bank Sydney.jpg|thumb|48 [[Martin Place]]; the Commonwealth Bank's headquarters from 1990-2009<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=John|first=Danny|title=Commonwealth Bank head offices through the years|url=https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/newsroom/|website=Commonwealth Bank - Newsroom}}</ref>]]
Between 1991 and 1996 the Australian Government under the [[Keating government]] fully privatised the Commonwealth Bank. The first share offer in 1991 was valued at $1,292 million, the second in 1993 for $1,700 million and the third was sold for $5,000 million in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/eropa/unpan001420.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-date=9 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909213215/http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/EROPA/UNPAN001420.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is a public company, but one of the few such companies in Australia whose official name does not end in 'Limited'.

In 1994 Commonwealth sold its shares in [[National Bank of Solomon Islands]] to [[Bank of Hawaii]]. In 1994, Commonwealth took a 50% share in PT Bank International Indonesia.

On 10 March 2000, the Commonwealth Bank and Colonial Limited announced their intention to merge, with seven Commonwealth Bank shares being offered for twenty Colonial Shares. The merger received final approval from the Supreme Court of Victoria on 31 May 2000 and was completed on 13 June 2000. This brought into the fold Colonial’s stake in [[Colonial National Bank]], the former National Bank of Fiji. The bank also acquired the remaining 25% of [[ASB Bank]].

Asian banking opportunities in 2000, saw the bank acquire full ownership of PT Bank International Indonesia and rename it (PT Bank Commonwealth). This bank now has over 16 branches and has opened several FX shops to cater to Commonwealth Bank clients who are tourists in [[Bali]].

In 2005, the bank established strategic co-operation agreements with two Chinese banks, Jinan City Commercial Bank and [[Hangzhou City Commercial Bank]]; it took an 11% stake in Jinan Commercial, and a 19.9% stake in Hangzhou Commercial. Commonwealth also established a representative office in [[Bangalore]], [[India]].

On 27 January 2006, the bank acquired the remaining 49% stake in Colonial National Bank (Fiji).
[[File:CeBIT Signage and Flags-1460 (cropped).jpg|thumb|263x263px|Tower 1, 201 Sussex Street; headquarters from 2010-2022 and now a secondary head office<ref name=":0" />]]
At the beginning of 2008, Commonwealth Bank opened a branch in [[Ho Chi Minh City]] (Saigon). Then in October, Commonwealth announced that it had purchased [[Bankwest]] and St Andrew's Insurances from their parent company [[HBOS]] for [[Australian dollar|A$]]2.1 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2008/081008-news-bankwest-acquisition.aspx|title=Commonwealth Bank of Australia to acquire Bank West and St Andrew's|author=Commonwealth Bank|year=2008|access-date=2008-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012083229/http://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2008/081008-news-bankwest-acquisition.aspx|archive-date=12 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bankwest.com.au/about-us/our-journey|title=BankWest and St Andrew's sold to Commonwealth Bank|author=Bank of Western Australia Limited|year=2020|access-date=2020-10-27}}</ref> The acquisition was scheduled to be completed in early 2009, subject to regulatory approval. Lastly, on 24 December, Commonwealth announced that it had, in joint [[partnership]] with [[Aussie Home Loans]], purchased [[Wizard Home Loans]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24840570-462,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224164234/http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0%2C27753%2C24840570-462%2C00.html|url-status=dead|title=Aussie Home Loans and Commonwealth Bank to buy Wizard Home Loans|archive-date=24 December 2008}}</ref> As part of the deal, the Commonwealth Bank will acquire Wizard mortgages up to the value of [[Australian dollar|A$]]4 billion. Commonwealth Bank held about 30 percent of the loan business of financial advisory company [[Storm Financial]] when it collapsed in January 2009.<ref name="Osborne1">{{cite news|url=http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-business/storm-financial-collapse-plan-outlined-20090810-ef9y.html|title=Storm Financial collapse plan outlined|last=Osborne|first=Paul|date=10 August 2009|work=The Age (Melbourne)|access-date=15 January 2010}}</ref>

In December 2009, Commonwealth sold [[Colonial National Bank]] to [[Bank of South Pacific]].

The bank transferred its [[Automated teller machine|ATM]] service desk from [[HP Enterprise Services]] in [[Adelaide]] to ITS ([[Armaguard]]) in [[Sydney]] in March 2012. The bank will change from [[NCR Corporation|NCR]] and [[Diebold]] ATMs to [[Wincor Nixdorf]] ATMs over the coming years.

The bank is the only financial services organisation to appear in the Dream Employers' top 20 list of preferred employers for 2010 and 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreamemployers.com.au/dreamemployerawards/|title=The Dream Employers|access-date=2013-02-16|year=2011|publisher=Dream Employers|archive-date=9 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409122902/http://www.dreamemployers.com.au/dreamemployerawards/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the [[Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry]] it was discovered that the Commonwealth Bank had charged dead people for financial advice services.<ref>{{cite news|title=Commonwealth Bank defends 'good decision' not to tell customers about data breach|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-02/commonwealth-bank-confirms-loss-financial-records-20m-customers/9720928|access-date=3 May 2018|work=ABC News|date=2 May 2018|language=en-AU}}</ref> On 9 May 2018, Commonwealth Bank settled an interest rate rigging case brought by [[Australian Securities and Investments Commission|ASIC]] for $25 million. In the settlement, the bank admitted it engaged in "unconscionable conduct" and manipulated the bank bill swap rate five times between February and June 2012.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-09/cba-and-asic-to-settle-rate-rigging-case/9742152|title=Commonwealth Bank and ASIC to settle interest rate-rigging case|date=9 May 2018|work=ABC News|access-date=9 May 2018|language=en-AU}}</ref>

On 16 November 2023, the bank announced divestment of PT Bank Commonwealth to [[Bank OCBC NISP]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/newsroom/2023/11/pt-bank-commonwealth.html | title=Divestment of PT Bank Commonwealth }}</ref>