BBA warns banking taxes could risk job revival
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has said that the recent increase in the Bank Levy has "delivered another blow" to the sector's plans to expand and take on new staff.
The industry body said that figures obtained from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have shown that increasing bank taxes have already put a burden on both the City and the country as a whole.
"This extra taxation has provoked some concern over where it leaves the UK as an international competitor on the world’s financial stage," the BBA said.
"The consensus seems to be that it makes us less attractive as a place for foreign banks to newly settle or even remain, and it leaves UK banks at a disadvantage when it comes to their foreign activities as they’ll have to compete with those who don’t have the burden of this balance sheet tax."
The data from ONS revealed a decline in job numbers between 2011 and 2013, which fell nearly 7,000 in the City and almost 28,000 nationwide.
Pointing to data that shows banks employ significant numbers of staff in places like Bournemouth and Glasgow "shatter the myth that banks only employ people in small corners of our biggest cities", BBA chief executive Anthony Browne was quoted as saying in the Sunday Telegraph.
The thousands of people employed by banks in Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester offer a "potent reminder that a strong banking industry is in all our interests", he continued.
"We should be careful to protect our banks from any moves that undermine their success and thereby their potential to create employment across our country."
His comments come after HSBC last week announced that it would be moving their UK retail bank headquarters to Birmingham.