Last week I had coffee with a PR executive who helped manage Thursday’s UBS shareholders’ meeting in Lucerne. We met at Sprüngli on the Paradeplatz, the branch of the posh chocolate, cake and coffee shop favoured by wives of Zurich gnomes. He gave me an insider’s account of his work to restore trust in the Swiss icon. Read on ›

Yesterday Barclays Bank won the vote to endorse its billions of Arab fund-raising. Its board was attacked from all sides, even by those voting for the deal. Welcome to the world of recession business. Clients are going to have hard cases to sell. That’s our real job. It’ll be exhilarating. Read on ›

There’s an arctic snow storm outside. Even my Dachshund refuses to leave the house. So whilst we’re gratefully holed up in my Swiss home I’m going to write about those losing theirs in the UK. Naturally, I’m interested in the explanations given by the institutions which are turfing them out. Read on ›

As I dug in to my morning Muesli here on the Zurich lake I caught up with yesterday’s FT. There I read an amusing editorial about Barclays being the listening, theatrical bank that headed off a shareholder revolt by the skin of its teeth. It’s true though: in a very clumsy fashion, Barclays and its shareholders are forging a brave new world. The implications for financial PR are profound. Read on ›

I’ve just had Sunday lunch of “Ravioli, suedafrikanische Scampi und weisser Curry” at the Kronenhalle bar in Zurich, haunt of Swiss bankers celebrating deals. The conversation turned to bankers and grovelling. Read on ›

It’s Saturday morning. I’m sitting in the Movenpick drinking coffee. I’ve been shopping in the Bahnhofstrasse. Beneath my feet is one of the biggest hordes of gold bullion in the world. Out of the window I observe the quiet orderliness of Zurich’s Paradeplatz, the hub of Swiss banking. It takes the waiter to bring my attention inside. He’s charged me for a “Gipfeli” I didn’t order. He apologies. Why, it occurred to me then, have the world’s bankers not said sorry for the credit crunch and their part in creating the mess we’re in? Read on ›

The retail shareholders complaining about Barclays Bank’s deal with Middle East and other investors might well have a point. However it is not one that appeals to me. Read on ›

Today Barclays Bank raised £7.3 billion from Middle East-based investors. That makes Barclays one of the high street’s premier brands, not just in terms of perception, but in terms of reality, along with HSBC. Read on ›