History of The Commonwealth Bank of W.A.

Essay by raotownHigh School, 10th gradeA, August 2005

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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was founded under legislation, namely the Commonwealth Bank Act, enacted by Andrew Fisher's Labor Government in 1911.

The Commonwealth Bank Act of 1911 empowered the Bank to conduct both savings and trading, with the security of a Federal Government guarantee. No other institution in Australia was involved in both of these separate areas of banking, nor did any other bank have a Federal Government guarantee.

The first Governor of CBA, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was Mr. (later Sir) Denison Miller. He initially headed a staff of twelve. The Commonwealth Bank opened for business on 15 July 1912, offering savings bank facilities at both its solitary branch, 317 Collins Street, Melbourne and at 489 agencies located in post offices throughout Victoria. During the following year branches were established in the other capital cities, as well as in Canberra, Townsville and London. Postal agencies were later established across Australia.

Now after almost 90, Commonwealth Bank has grown to one of Australia's largest banks. In 2000 CBA and Colonial Limited announced their intention to merge, with seven Commonwealth Bank shares being offered for twenty Colonial Shares.

The merge will present a hopefully a more strong, dynamic and globally relevant financial services group headquartered in Australia.

The Bank was awarded Bank of the Decade in November 1999 and named "Best Bank" at the Australian Banking and Finance Awards for the years 1996, 2000 & 2002. Commonwealth has grown to 34,960 staff and over 1,066 branches throughout Australia, with additional access to banking facilities provided nationwide by 3,928 agencies, including Australia Post, through 122,074 EFTPOS terminals and 3,910 ATM's. During this period the Bank's annual profit has risen from its first recorded profit of £2,222 for the half year ended 30 June 1915 to an operating profit after tax...