If you’ve been following the news over the last few years you will have been deluged with reports and claims from financial institutions, regulatory bodies and government leaders.

Pronouncements that things are getting better are immediately countered with information to the contrary. We’re told that there are no more surprises round the corner, just before hearing about fresh bailouts, losses and bank failures. Through this cacophony, it is incredibly hard to know which voices we should believe. Even for those of us with a vested interest in the workings of the financial markets, maintaining a clear idea of exactly what is going on is a challenge. Imagine how difficult it must be for the huge swathes of population whose main source of financial news comes from often sensationalist stories in the mainstream media. With so many conflicting sources of information, it is understandable that people don’t know who to trust.

By it’s very nature, the financial world is complex. Its elevation from the business section to front-page news has inevitably had repercussions as in-depth economic reports are boiled down to three-word, 50-point bold headlines. But this doesn’t absolve the industry from all of the responsibility. Recently, top officials from Lloyds TSB and HBOS managed to sit in front of a government panel just a few days before announcing losses of £10 billion without feeling it necessary to mention their troubles. These revelations, and other like them, only serve to further tarnish the reputation of an industry that many reflexively distrust.

There are few businesses where consumer confidence has such massive potential to generate both positive and negative results. The boom years leading up to the crash were characterised by the impossibly buoyant assumption that the only way was up. We’re now on experiencing the comedown from this sugar rush and every time a new piece of information contradicts what we thought we knew, our reserves of faith are depleted further.

It’s now necessary for those with a stake in the financial industry to embrace transparency as never before. If there is bad news coming, just get it out rather than trying to delay the inevitable. A worrying revelation that turns out to be true will make it all the more likely that subsequent positive predictions will be taken at face value.

Our financial leaders need to start owning up if they are to ever regain public trust.