The Banking Sector and CSR: an unholy alliance

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), financial exclusion and banks are not happy bed fellows, yet their relationship and working partnership is essential to ensure financial security within a stable economy. The position of this paper is to contextualise the CSR of banks within the current economic climate and comes to the unsatisfactory position that CSR and financial exclusion may be forgotten until the crisis is over and recovery begins. What is currently important in terms of economics is that the system works for the whole not the few and that regulatory focus is drawn fully to secure the crisis and work on rebuilding trust and confidence within the broken and troubled banking industry. In order to examine this proposition, the paper is divided into five parts. Firstly the paper examines the origins and developments of CSR. Secondly the paper examines the CSR of banks in the UK and compares it to the regulatory approach in the United States. Thirdly the researchers explore the notions of financial exclusion and how it interrelates with social responsibility of the banks. Penultimately the researchers examine the ethical aspects of the banks business and conclude with an examination of the CSR guidelines and disclosure rules. The paper does not examine the current economic situation in detail