Banks and financial services institutions remain the least trusted of any sector globally, despite a slight improvement in 2012, the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer has found.
Institutions overall experienced a slight improvement in trust levels compared with the previous study, with banks seeing their trust rating move from 45 per cent to 50 per cent, and financial services rising from 47 per cent to 50 per cent.
However, they still lagged behind the next least-trusted industry - media - which was rated at 53 per cent. The technology sector was the most trusted at 77 per cent globally.
Of those who said they were familiar with recent bank and finance scandals, 59 per cent believed the causes are behavioural.
They nominated reasons within company control, such as corruption, corporate culture and conflicts of interest, while the remainder suggested external factors - such as lack of regulation and changes in the broader economy - were to blame
Trust in the banking sector was higher in emerging markets, at 69 per cent overall, including 80 per cent in China. However, in the United States it sat at 50 per cent; in Australia, 40 per cent; and in the UK, just 29 per cent trusted the banking sector.
Almost two thirds of respondents globally believed banking and financial services behaviours are common across all businesses.
The barometer also revealed a severe lack of confidence in leadership globally, with chief executives less than 50 per cent trusted. Only 18 per cent of respondents trusted business leaders while 13 per cent trusted government leaders to tell the truth.
The general population exhibited a lower level of trust than "informed publics", the barometer found.
Overall, "corruption and fraud" was named as the key reason for distrust both in business and government, with incompetence also nominated as a leading reason for government distrust.
Conducted in October and November 2012, the online survey sampled 26,000 general population respondents across 26 countries, including a subset of 5,800 "informed publics" in the 25-34 and 35-64 age groups.
