Critical Evaluation of CBA’s Practices †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Critical Evaluation of CBAs Practices. Answer: Introduction The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is a multinational bank involved in providing various types of financial services that includes retail, business, institutional banking, funds management, insurance, investment and broking services. It is attributed to be one of the largest Australian listed companies on the Australian Securities Exchange. CBAs insurance arm is CommInsure that was established in the year 2002 and has become one of the largest life insurers in Australia. CommInsure is actively involved in providing insurance products and income protection to about 4 million customers with main product offerings of life insurance and immediate annuities. However, the brand image of CBA was negatively impacted due to the presence of unethical and illegal practices in its insurance arm. CommInsure insurance policies were highlighted to be fraudulent as it has provided medical policies that were out of date. The occurrence of such a scandal in CBA after its money-laundering scandal further negatively impacted its brand image to a large extent. In this context, the present report aims to critically evaluate the financial management policies and practices of CBA in respect to their social responsibility and social outcomes of their actions. The ethical violation of CBA has discussed in detail in the report in reference to corporate social responsibility principles, ethical codes, principles and theories. Critical Evaluation of CBAs Practices and Financial Decisions as per the CSR Principles The financial management policies and practices of CBA were heavily criticized after the identification of the fraudulent activities ion the bank related to money laundering. However, the latest scandal that occurred in the CommInsure, insurance arm of CBA, has emphasized the need for CBA to review it financial management policies and practices. It has been ascertained by the ASIC investigation that CommInsure was involved in selling of the life insurance policies having outdated medical definitions for major diseases such as heart attack and rheumatoid arthritis. It has also been identified in the investigation that CommInsure need to make major improvements in its claim handling processes such as better interaction with the customers and improved training programs for the claim managers. Therefore, CommInsure was alleged for providing misleading and deceptive information to its customers and therefore breached ethical norms and principles. The government has imposed penalties for t he bank die to the presence of misconduct in its insurance arm related to claim handling under the Unfair Contracts Terms legislation (ASIC releases findings of CommInsure investigation, 2017). Thus, it can be said from the practices and financial decisions of CBA that it is not effectively complying with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles and practices. The bank has although maintained CSR policies in relation to promoting the development of environment and society but its actions has not able to produce a positive social outcome for its stakeholders. The adoption of CSR policies requires businesses to contribute to social welfare as a major obligation of their business. It is concerned with maximizing the value for stakeholders rather than profit generation as that observed in the case of CBA. The bank is largely focusing on wealth creation rather than protecting the interests of its stakeholders as analyzed from its fraudulent financial practices. CSR principle focuses on achieving social outcomes through business as per the utilitarian principle of ethics which states that an ethical choice results in promoting the good for maximum number of individual s. As such, the ethical course of action for a business is that which results in delivering maximum value for its stakeholders. However, CBA has not adequately integrated the CSR beliefs and principle in its purpose and mission which is responsible for the occurrence of such unethical and fraudulent practices in the bank (Longstaff, 2016). Importance of Sustainability and Social Responsibility Outcomes for CBA CBA is a leading bank of Australian and therefore is largely responsible for protecting the interests of its wide stakeholder groups such as investors, customers, employees and government. The bank is involve in providing wide range of financial service to its clients and therefore it is highly important that bank places emphasis on the integration of sustainability and social responsible practices for stakeholder value creation. The presence of CSR policies and practice is essential to ensure transparency in its business operations so that bank is accountable for all the decisions taken by it. The social outcomes can be achieved by CBA only through the use of CSR practices that promote the development of all its stakeholders. The maintenance of customer beliefs over the business practices is of utmost concern for CBA to sustain its position and continue its growth and development (Commonwealth Bank Implements Sustainability Policies and Practices, 2018). The business practice and procedures adopted by CBA impacts to a large number of people and therefore it is essential for the bank to meet the varying interest of its stakeholders by delivering socially responsible outcomes. It has the responsibility of promoting financial stability within the banking sector and thus the presence of fraudulent practice within the bank can negatively impact the overall working of the financial system of the country. The importance of sustainability and socially responsible outcome for CBA can be effectively understood by its economic, legal and ethical responsibilities. The economic responsibility relates to its critical role in promoting financial innovation for promoting growth whereas legal responsibility refers to its crucial role in minimizing the financial risks through promoting regulation in the financial system. At last, the ethical responsibility involves meeting the stakeholder expectations through carrying business on the ethical principle of integrity, fairness, respect and transparency (Lentner, 2015). Ethical Principles Breached by CBA The occurrence of misleading and deceptive business practices in the CommInsure, the insurance arm of CBA, has highlighted various ethical concerns and challenges faced by the banking organization at present to maintain its sustainable growth. The banking organization has violated ethical codes of conduct and practices that were established by it for promoting transparency and accountability in its business operations. It has violated the following ethical codes of practice and conduct of continuously working towards improving the practices and services of the financial service industry. Also, there is ethical breach relating to providing detailed information to the clients regarding the financial service provided by CBA through the use updated brochures and written information. This is because the medical definitions under the life insurance policies of CBA were outdated and thus it has not effectively complied with its ethical obligation of providing effective information disclosur e to the clients. CBA has also breached its ethical conduct regarding acting fairly and reasonably and effectively meeting the commitment made between the bank and its clients (The Conversation, 2017). However, the occurrence of CommInsure scandal has highlighted that the bank is not effectively meeting its commitment towards the clients as it has failed to meet their expectations by providing them deceptive insurance products and policies. It also maintained in its ethical conduct that the banking organization will comply with all the relevant laws relating to financial services. However, it has not complied effectively with the law relating to Consumer Protection by selling them false insurance policies and therefore has caused the breach of law. CBA has also failed to comply with its ethical code of conduct relating to ensuring that its staff members are appropriately trained and are competent enough in carrying out their responsibilities. However, it has been proved by ASIC inve stigation that its claim managers were not appropriately trained to sell the insurance policies to the clients (Code of Banking Practice, 2018). Discussion of Ethical Violations with Reference to Ethical Theories The ethical violations that occurred in the CBA can be explained adequately in reference to ethical theory of deontology. As per the ethical theory of deontology, the morality of an action taken by a business organization can be judged on the basis of standard set of rules and procedures. Thus, the theory emphases that a business organization has a moral obligation to act in a reasonable manner as per the duty or obligation based on standard rules and legislation. Thus, the duty and responsibility of a business organization towards its stakeholders can help in developing an ethical course of action that direct it to act ethically and comply effectively with standard set of rule and regulations. CBA ethical violation presents a case where a business entity has not effectively met with the regulatory compliance and thus has failed to act morally and ethically. On the other hand, the theory of utilitarian ethics can be utilized by the CBA in developing and selecting an ethical course of action (Parsons, 2016). The theory has stated that a business entity must select the course of action that results in promoting the welfare of large number of people and as such it can act ethically and reasonably towards its stakeholders (Longstaff, 2016). Conclusion Thus, it can be stated form the overall discussion held in the report that CBA recent financial practices are not in accordance with the CSR beliefs and principles. As such, it is essential for an organization to integrate CSR beliefs and principle in its business activities for acting ethically and morally. References ASIC releases findings of CommInsure investigation. 2017. [Online]. Available at: https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/media-centre/find-a-media-release/2017-releases/17-076mr-asic-releases-findings-of-comminsure-investigation/ [Accessed on: 8 April 2018]. Code of Banking Practice. 2018. [Online]. Available at: https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/commbank/about-us/download-printed-forms/CodeofBankingPractice_ADB2555_0604.pdf [Accessed on: 8 April 2018]. Commonwealth Bank Implements Sustainability Policies and Practices. 2018. [Online]. Available at: https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2015/commonwealth-bank-implements-sustainability-policies-and-practices.html [Accessed on: 8 April 2018]. Lentner, C. 2015. Corporate Social Responsibility in the Banking Sector. [Online]. Available at: https://www.asz.hu/storage/files/files/public-finance-quarterly-articles/2015/a_lentner_szegedi_tatay_2015_1.pdf [Accessed on: 8 April 2018]. Longstaff, S. 2016. Can Ethics Survive in the World of Banking and Finance? Lessons from CommInsure. [Online]. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/03/09/4421566.htm [Accessed on: 8 April 2018]. Parsons, P.J. 2016. Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice. Kogan Page Publishers. The Conversation. 2017. Why bankers so often fail to comply with policies and regulations. [Online]. Available at: https://theconversation.com/why-bankers-so-often-fail-to-comply-with-policies-and-regulations-82159 [Accessed on: 8 April 2018].