UNITED KINGDOM: Bankers say: "Don't hang us!" as thousands prepare to march in London's financial district to "storm the banks"

Record ID: 559944

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Bankers say: "Don't hang us!" as thousands prepare to march in London's financial district to "storm the banks"
  • Date: 2nd April 2009
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) "CITY GIRL" SAYING "We're just trying to do the right thing - pay the bills, not get laid off. A lot of us are hoping that the G20 demonstrations this week will be nothing but a media frenzy and nothing will come out of it that's too horrible."
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Economic News,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABAEJ1BGO32S2JRM34VX0ES0D5
  • Story Text: London is bracing for a day of protests on the eve of the G20 summit on Wednesday (April 1).
    The issues range from saving the planet to stopping the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    But there is one burning issue which has protesters saying "storm the banks" and "eat the banker."
    The recent global financial crisis and the scandal behind massive bonuses reaped by banking executives at the expense of taxpayers' money are now getting angry people out in the streets.
    But some bankers say this anger is misdirected.

    "City Girl" writes a weekly column for a London afternoon newspaper. Her column gives readers an inside to the complex and often secretive world of banking.
    She says bankers, like her, are just like any "average Joes."

    "We're just trying to do the right thing - pay the bills, not get laid off," she said, adding she and her co-employees will have to leave their Prada suits and their 400 GBP high-heels behind and dress down when protesters gather outside the Bank of England on Wednesday.
    In her recent column, she writes about how blame should also be put on politicians who "deregulated the markets into a free-fall" and journalists who "paraded these bankers."
    She says she understands why the anger is justified, but draws the line at what the "sinister" nature of the protest.
    She also puts and politicians who "deregulated the markets into a free-fall" and journalists who "paraded these bankers."

    "Reckless bankers shouldn't be strung up. Their offices shouldn't be bombed. I don't think we should get off lightly because clearly the financial sector has messed up in some serious respects. But there's 200,000 people working in the City and there's only a few hundred movers and shakers in the industry whose decision brought us into the wrong direction over the past couple of decades, so most of us are innocent bystanders or at the worst, we enabled it. But it's the system to blame, not the individuals," she added.
    Her sentiments are echoed by some workers in London's Canary Wharf, home to big international banks.

    "I think it's really unfounded, really. We're not all responsible directly, are we? So... I think we need banking too," said banker Mark Sezanof.

    "Well the economy speaks for itself. But I think people should think about what the bankers have done for the economy in the last few years.
    Business is, people go with the intention for things to succeed, but sometimes things go wrong. It is what it is," said accountant Mark Okwor.

    "City Girl" says recent moves to nationalised ailing private banks is making the profession less appealing. She says she doesn't see herself staying around in the banking industry for much longer. The reason: money is no longer there.

    "A lot of banks are being nationalised. A lot of the financial rewards associated with our profession have evaporated. If it's your life's dream to be a banker, if you get a lot of satisfaction from that, then go for it. But if you're like most of us you're in it for the money, then it's going to be a while before that money returns," she said.
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