There’s no safe way to negotiate the minefield that is an investment bank’s Christmas party.

When a journalist really wants to sink their teeth into you, it’s best to accept early on that all intervention is futile.

The Wells Fargo CEO was cornered by Elizabeth Warren during Capitol Hill hearings, but even when he was called ‘gutless’, he did not fight back. By John Anderson.

The annual get-together in Washington is like the World Cup, Olympics and a royal wedding all rolled into one for the finance industry, writes John Anderson.

HSBC isn’t the first bank to have found itself getting headlines for the wrong reasons. John Anderson has dealt with a few.

What happens when you ask hyper-aggressive over-achievers if they think they’re the best in the industry? John Anderson knows all too well.

Analysts want bravado and blood lust alongside new data to input into their spreadsheets; staff will be anxious, so the best bet is to invoke the tried and trusted ‘attrition’ approach, writes John Anderson.

In the old days, tax rows were a marketing opportunity. Now, tax bankers would rather self-harm than reveal their secrets through the media.

Brexit presents a fascinating situation for the financial services community.

No good news to tell? Then keep the releases rolling. Try to dazzle the troops with some verbiage. A bit of psychopathy can be a good thing

The latest market turmoil could finally persuade emerging market countries to become more proactive in communicating with global financial markets.

Let’s hope a new year heralds a decline in cynicism and negativity. Bank communications need to stay realistic, but would it hurt to accentuate the positive?

Sometimes bank PR boils down to a simple question: what does ‘is’ mean?

A battle of words between banks and their clients is inevitable.

A tsunami of tastelessness; measuring Moynihan’s brand equity; best wishes to Blankfein.

This column’s author had an inside view of the Chemical/Chase merger 20 years ago.

Quietly, but forcefully, the bank is getting its message across to UK government and regulators.

Deutsche Bank’s Strategy 2020 – which led to the resignations of co-CEOs Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen – was a study in how to obfuscate and overwhelm reality in a way that simply didn’t add up.

When the bad news comes rolling in, you’d better be an expert in the industry, as well as the institution, you work in.

The relationship between finance and politics might look fraught today, but it has always been more nuanced than you might realise.

A grilling from politicians can be murder for a bank chief executive. Your only hope is to get the murder board right in advance.

If a communications team is faced with the challenge of spinning the closure of a business line, it can get weird.

Standard Chartered’s PR machine does not seem to be helping turn the bank’s story around at a critical time for CEO Peter Sands.

You’d have thought the new CEO of Santander needed little introduction. But Ana Botín’s advisers have played a cannily surgical game… so far.

Our new column seeks the truth behind the PR spin in the world of banking. This month: how Jefferies put itself on the front pages, and why Barclays’ timing is always off.