Crash, Bang, Crunch – headline risk or information gap
Roundtable discussion

May 29, 2009
Venue:  Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Organiser: ICMA  

Our industry has not come out of this crisis well. Our image problem has been largely created by the fact that no one outside the financial markets understands what we do or how our business works. We have laid ourselves open to attack from all sides, from the politicians looking to allocate blame, and from the media reducing complex matters to brief sound bites and headlines.

To highlight the industry's need to respond to public and media criticism ICMA welcomed representatives from the press, notably Gillian Tett from the Financial Times, Damian Reece of the Telegraph and John Orchard of Euroweek and from the market, to consider the challenges the City faces and consider the way forward as the banking industry seeks to re-engage with the public as well as address the shortcomings in the markets that precipitated the crisis.

The meeting was held under Chatham House Rules to encourage frank discussion.

Topics for discussion included:
• Who is really to blame for the severity of the current downturn?
• Has the media played a role, exacerbating the crisis by feeding straight through into investor expectations and destroying confidence?
• How can the industry improve communications and argue its case intelligently in the face of continued media hostility?

To view the agenda, please click here