In the high-stakes world of finance, perception is often as powerful as performance. A few well-placed words can bolster confidence in markets, steady shareholder nerves, or spark investor excitement. But when financial public relations (PR) is executed poorly, the damage can be seismic — torpedoing valuations, spurring regulatory scrutiny, and eroding the one currency every financial institution relies on: trust.
In a digital-first, post-crisis, post-GameStop world, the public is watching financial actors more closely than ever. Journalists, watchdogs, investors, and Redditors alike are scrutinizing every press release, earnings call, and tweet. And while financial PR was once reserved for quarterly reports and dry media briefings, it now plays out in real time, across screens, to audiences with zero patience for spin.
Poor financial PR isn’t just about a bad headline. It’s about misinformation, tone-deaf messaging, delayed disclosure, and arrogance — all of which risk transforming a communications problem into a full-blown crisis.
Let’s explore some of the most common ways financial PR goes wrong — and why the industry can no longer afford to get it wrong.
1. Overpromising and Under-Delivering: The Elizabeth Holmes Playbook
At the heart of bad financial PR is often a fundamental lie — or a gross exaggeration presented as fact.
Theranos, one of the most infamous financial scandals in modern memory, serves as a case study in PR malpractice. Elizabeth Holmes, the biotech startup’s founder, expertly used PR to cultivate a narrative of genius innovation. With glowing profiles in Fortune and Forbes and high-profile endorsements from former U.S. cabinet members, Theranos was a media darling — despite never producing a product that actually worked.
The result? A $9 billion valuation built on vapor, millions of dollars lost by investors, and a criminal trial that became a cautionary tale. While Holmes’ deception was the root of the fraud, the PR machine that enabled and amplified the narrative played a significant role in its rise — and devastating collapse.
Lesson: In financial PR, credibility is everything. When PR veers into fiction, the crash is inevitable — and often catastrophic.
2. The Earnings Call That Tanks a Stock
A poorly managed earnings call is one of the fastest ways to destroy shareholder confidence.
Consider the case of Snap Inc. In 2017, following its much-anticipated IPO, Snap’s first earnings call was nothing short of disastrous. CEO Evan Spiegel, known for his reticence, offered curt answers and vague explanations about the company’s financial performance and strategy. Rather than reassure investors, the call sparked confusion and frustration.
The fallout was immediate: Snap’s stock plummeted 23% in a single day.
In financial PR, delivery matters just as much as data. Earnings calls should clarify, not confuse. They should instill confidence, not contempt. When executives appear evasive, arrogant, or unprepared, markets react accordingly.
Lesson: Speak with clarity, answer questions directly, and treat every earnings call like a court appearance — because, in many ways, it is.
3. Silence During Crisis: When No Comment Says Too Much
In finance, where a few percentage points can mean billions in market cap, staying silent during a crisis is often worse than saying the wrong thing.
Take Credit Suisse — once one of Switzerland’s most prestigious financial institutions. Leading up to its eventual collapse in 2023, the bank suffered a series of scandals: from the Greensill Capital fallout to Archegos Capital’s implosion. In each case, Credit Suisse’s public communications were slow, opaque, and riddled with PR jargon that failed to reassure investors or customers.
Instead of acknowledging failures and outlining corrective actions, the bank issued vague statements and doubled down on “business as usual” narratives. The result? A steady erosion of trust, plunging stock prices, and — ultimately — a forced merger with UBS.
Lesson: In financial PR, silence breeds speculation. A lack of transparency invites panic. A well-crafted statement won’t fix the problem, but it can buy time, show accountability, and stabilize sentiment.
4. Greenwashing and ESG Spin Gone Wrong
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues are no longer peripheral to financial PR — they’re central. But too many institutions attempt to exploit ESG as a PR strategy without aligning their operations or values accordingly.
In 2022, Deutsche Bank’s DWS Group faced raids by German authorities over allegations of misleading ESG claims in its funds — essentially greenwashing. The firm had trumpeted its commitment to sustainability in annual reports and public statements, but internal whistleblowers revealed that many of its ESG-labeled investments didn’t meet the criteria.
This wasn’t just a PR misstep — it was a legal one. The reputational fallout hit fast and hard, with over $1 billion in investor outflows within days.
Lesson: ESG cannot be treated as a press release strategy. In finance, transparency and verification are key. Overstating ESG credentials for media attention is a gamble that rarely pays off.
5. Twitter Fingers and Executive Ego
In the age of social media, financial PR missteps often start at the top — with executives who fail to grasp the implications of their public persona.
Few illustrate this better than Elon Musk, whose tweets have repeatedly roiled markets. From claiming Tesla would go private at $420 a share (which triggered SEC investigations) to mocking short-sellers and regulators, Musk’s casual Twitter habits have cost Tesla and its shareholders dearly. At one point, a single tweet wiped out $14 billion in Tesla’s market value.
Musk is an outlier in many ways, but the lesson is broadly applicable: in finance, words carry weight. Tweets, jokes, even offhand comments can affect investor confidence, attract regulatory scrutiny, or fuel lawsuits.
Lesson: Financial PR must extend to executive behavior. The CEO is the brand — and anything they say, anywhere, is fair game for interpretation, litigation, and market speculation.
6. Lack of Preparation for Regulatory Disclosures
One of the cardinal sins of financial PR is failing to align messaging with compliance teams. When disclosures don’t match media messaging — or worse, when disclosures are buried or unclear — the result is confusion and backlash.
In 2023, FTX, the crypto exchange led by Sam Bankman-Fried, became a poster child for this. While their PR narrative painted a picture of innovation, altruism, and transparency, the financial statements and internal operations told a different story. The disconnect between what the company said and what it actually did led to criminal charges, bankruptcy, and billions in lost assets.
While PR alone didn’t cause the collapse, the false sense of security it created delayed scrutiny and worsened the fallout.
Lesson: Financial PR must be integrated with legal, compliance, and investor relations. Messaging isn’t just about perception — it must be rooted in fact.
7. Robo-Responses and Generic Statements
During financial crises — like data breaches, investor lawsuits, or earnings misses — generic PR statements make things worse. “We take this seriously” or “We are looking into the matter” are often viewed as evasive and hollow.
For example, when Robinhood halted trading of GameStop and AMC in January 2021 amid the retail investing frenzy, its initial communications were robotic and vague. The PR team issued a brief blog post citing “market volatility” and compliance, without explaining the mechanics or the decision-making behind the move.
Users felt betrayed. Lawmakers raised concerns. Class action suits followed. Robinhood was dragged before Congress, not just because of what it did — but because of how poorly it communicated during a critical moment.
Lesson: In financial PR, especially during crises, humanity and clarity matter. People don’t just want information — they want acknowledgment, empathy, and a roadmap forward.
The Cost of Bad Financial PR
Unlike other industries, the cost of poor PR in finance is often measured in billions:
- Lost market capitalization from shaken investor confidence
- Increased regulatory scrutiny and legal fees
- Customer attrition due to lack of trust
- Executive turnover and reputational damage
- Long-term brand decay in the eyes of stakeholders
In finance, reputation isn’t just branding — it’s baked into the value proposition. Institutions exist because people believe in their stewardship, their competence, and their transparency.
When PR undermines that belief, value evaporates.
What Good Financial PR Looks Like
To avoid these pitfalls, financial PR must adhere to several core principles:
- Clarity: Use clear, jargon-free language.
- Speed: Respond quickly — but accurately.
- Accountability: Acknowledge mistakes before they’re discovered.
- Consistency: Align all communications across teams.
- Empathy: Recognize the emotional and financial impact of decisions on real people.
- Preparedness: Have playbooks for crises — and rehearse them.
Great financial PR doesn’t spin the truth. It frames the truth responsibly, thoughtfully, and transparently. It earns trust not with buzzwords, but with action and clarity.
The days of tightly controlled narratives and opaque investor briefings are over. Finance is now public, participatory, and relentless. Whether you’re a startup pitching VCs or a global bank under scrutiny, your PR strategy isn’t optional — it’s existential.
The market may be moved by data, but it is steered by emotion. Financial PR professionals are the interpreters, the sense-makers, and the stabilizers in a world that often teeters on uncertainty.
Get it right, and you earn not just trust — but resilience. Get it wrong, and the fallout will be swift, brutal, and unforgettable.
In the digital age, financial PR isn’t a side note. It’s the story itself.
