AUSTRALIA. — The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, or CBA, is a leading Australian multinational bank and the largest bank in the southern hemisphere.
As of August 2015, it is the largest Australian listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange, with brands including Bankwest, Colonial First State Investments, ASB Bank (New Zealand), Commonwealth Securities (CommSec) and Commonwealth Insurance (CommInsure).
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was established following legislation introduced by Andrew Fisher’s Labor Government on December 22, 1911.
The ‘Commonwealth Bank Act 1911’ allowed the founding of a bank that would provide a safe investment for savings, as it had a federal government guarantee backed by national credit.
The bank would offer both savings and general bank business, unusual for the time. It would also help reduce public indebtedness by offering lower charges on overdrafts, bills of exchange, and current accounts compared to those proposed by private banks.
The first branch of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was opened at 317 Collins Street, Melbourne on July 15, 1912.
Mr (later Sir) Denison Miller was the Governor, and there were 12 staff.
The Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, was the bank’s first account holder and depositor.
The first Sydney branch was opened in January 1913, and, later that year, the Commonwealth Bank took over the State Bank of Tasmania.
By the end of 1913, all six states had branches of the Commonwealth Bank.
In 1916, its head office was moved to Sydney.
