The association lobbied for its members and gave its view on the legislative and regulatory system for banking in the UK.

The BBA was founded in 1919 by the merger of two pre-existing bodies, the Central Association of Bankers (est.

1895 in London, 34 St Clements Lane) and the Association of English Country Bankers (est.

The BBA responded to the full range of issues affecting retail and wholesale banking and the wider financial services industry.

Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, compared the BBA LIBOR market to a "cesspit" of dishonesty.

Martin Wheatley said "the BBA acts as the lobby organisation for the same submitting banks that they nominally oversee, creating a conflict of interest that precludes strong and credible governance".

[citation needed] The BBA was leading efforts to increase funding to small and medium-sized enterprises through the Better Business Finance campaign.

The BBA collaborated with the British Chambers of Commerce to deliver 15 outreach events across the UK throughout 2011 in support of this initiative.

[8][9] In April 2017, he announced he was stepping down after five years as CEO, when the BBA merged with five other trade associations to form UK Finance.