Corporate Social Responsibility in the Banking Sector

Abstract

As countries of the world used large amounts of public funds to manage the 2008 financial crisis, public debt has risen to a critical level in many of them. Due to the drop in real economy, several countries faced unemployment and economic fallback that are still unresolved to this day. After the crisis, many were concerned how to restore the confidence in financial institutions and how banks can better contribute to sustainable social and economic growth. This paper discusses corporate social responsibility (CSR), an attitude putting ethical norms in the spotlight. The CSR pyramid distinguishes various layers of responsibilities. The first at the bottom is economic responsibility, serving as the foundation for the pyramid, however, companies also need to comply with legal norms. Ethical responsibility is the obligation to conduct in a fair way and to do the right thing. After the crisis, central banks in many countries became responsible for sustaining financial stability. To this end, central banks have developed their own corporate social responsibility strategies. This activity is studied from the view of how CSR can contribute to financial stability.