Resumen: The 2008 financial crisis severely undermined public trust in banking systems, prompting calls for widespread reform. However, irregularities continued, leading to a further succession of scandals over the following years. We should therefore ask how banks justified the catastrophe and their failure to reform. This chapter examines two large UK-based banks: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and HSBC. All the ¿letters to shareholders¿ published in their Annual Reports over 15 years are examined for commonplace arguments or ¿topoi¿ offered as justifications for their failure to comply with ethical standards. Five typical recurring arguments are analysed, with a particular focus on their use in subtle manipulations of public opinion to draw attention away from the scale and impact of corporate wrongdoing.
