The financial industry has hardly been at the top of the ‘most trusted’ list of late. Edelmen’s Trust barometer for 2010 (which even during the good times found that bank and finance brands struggle with reputation), places banks as least reliable, with only 21% of UK respondents considering them to be trustworthy.

Now, as a result of criticism over bankers bonuses and its potential involvement in assisting Greece to mask some of its debt, Goldman Sachs has admitted that its reputation could be damaged by the “negative publicity” it has recently attracted.

This wasn’t a public announcement and was instead found within a recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The document stated that; “the financial crisis and the current political and public sentiment regarding financial institutions has resulted in a significant amount of adverse press coverage, as well as adverse statements or charges by regulators or elected officials.”

The document then went on to accuse the media of effectively creating a storm in a teacup, adding that “press coverage and other public statements that assert some form of wrongdoing, regardless of the factual basis for the assertions being made, often results in some type of investigation by regulators.”

The final word on the issue was that allegations can negatively impact morale among staff while responding to criticism is also a “time consuming and expensive” process.

Jonathan Weil covered the story on BusinessWeek.com yesterday, comparing Goldman’s situation to that of oil and gas services corporation Halliburton, which spun off its Kellogg Brown & Root division in an attempt to distance itself from negative press over dealings in Iraq.

As Weil suggests, at some point the bank may need to try something just as drastic if it can’t find a way to detoxify its reputation. Restoring Goldman’s public standing should be Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein’s top priority. Yet there’s no indication he has any idea how to accomplish this. Goldman Sachs recently donated $500 million to charity as part of a strategy to improve its public perception, but with no kind of unified comms plan to support this or make people aware of what it was doing – it fell like a tree in an empty forest.

Several banks have taken a very different approach to regaining trust during the recession. First Direct attacked public opinion head on, integrating it into a new ad campaign, whereas Barclays has embarked on a series of smart television spots, building an online community around the cult status they created.

Things are different for Goldman Sachs as an investment bank, but there’s a lot to learn from the way Coutts handles its online relationship with customers. Andrew Haigh, managing partner of Coutts’ entrepreneurs client group explained; “it’s difficult for banks as we are service providers instead of selling a product. How do you build a story online without anything to show? That’s why we focus so much on one key message. That’s key to re-building trust.”