• Bloomberg, Thursday, March 25, 2010 10:45 AM

The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents the 150 largest banks and insurance companies in the U.S., is rolling out a public relations campaign to enhance the reputation of its members and earn back the trust of the public, Julianna Goldman and Robert Schmidt report.

"The only ones out there talking are our critics, and it's our turn to set the record straight," says Scott Talbott, chief lobbyist for the Roundtable. "Our focus is two things -- one, to have a conversation with our customers and, two, to demonstrate the positive benefits the industry brings to the economy and consumers' lives." It initially will set up a Web site and use social media, he says, to reach people during the upcoming election season.

"Every election has its convenient villain," said Evan Tracey, president of Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group. "Wall Street is clearly going to be in the crosshairs of a lot of the candidates running for office this year." Indeed, a Bloomberg poll finds that that almost two-thirds of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of business executives, a close second to the public's disdain for Congress (67%).

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