Banks 'not the bad guys'
Despite the fact that many people seem unhappy with their bank, complaining of extra fees and high charges on borrowing, the banks are really the good guys, the British Bankers Association (BBA) insists.Not only does the financial sector put enough money into the economy to build the equivalent of 36 new hospitals each year through corporation tax, but the top five corporate contributors to charity are banks, the BBA reveals.The financial sector as a whole creates jobs for three million people in the UK, with almost half a million of those posts in banks alone. Last year over £10 billion was paid out in dividends to shareholders, which boosts the worth of pension funds and other stock market investments.BBA chief executive, Angela Knight CBE, said: "The financial services industry in the UK creates millions of jobs, generates wealth for the UK's citizens, contributes some £23 billion to the exchequer and provides the economic infrastructure which allows our entrepreneurs and businesses to grow."Without the global success of British banking there would be a gaping hole in the nation's finances and in people's pensions. It really is the engine room of the economy."
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