Abstract:

The global banking system has many facets in the CSR sphere, starting from the causes that lead to the macroeconomic imbalances and continuing with the power of the largest banking systems implanted in countries with the most diverse economies. Due to the major influence of the “parent-bank” in the CSR strategy of its subsidiaries and the main features of the multinationals in the former socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, the question that arises is if the CSR strategies of the banks which are present in the Romanian market and belong to the international financial groups are dominated by the CSR parent-model or they were adjusted to the local environment. Assuming that the responsible banking strategies are different in the Romanian banks compared to the international banking groups to which they belong, the paper highlights the main trends of the Romanian banking system by identifying both the similarity and the contradictions in the analyzed CSR policies. This qualitative research starts from a series of disagreements in the CSR policies of the top banks from the Romanian system based on the net assets indicator and those of the groups, providing a clear correspondence between the conceptual framework of corporate social responsibility in Romania and the reality from the international banking practice. The methodologically approach is based on the appropriate use of the case study, outlining the most important aspects that differentiates the domestic banking environment and the international one, in order to validate the research hypothesis. The comparative analysis strengthen the asymmetry in the CSR decision making process between the bank and the correspondent financial group. It will be considered a rigorous selection of the research variables, depending on the theoretical CSR approach, the CSR e-communication results or other relevant criteria.