Alessio Rastani, the self-styled city trader, has caused a real stir following his BBC interview last week, where soundbites included “I’m fairly confident the Euro is going to crash”, “the market is toast” and “Goldman Sachs rules the world”.
The BBC presenter herself said during the interview that jaws around her had collectively dropped, but was the real surprise what the trader was saying, the fact that he would say it on TV, or that someone who refers to trading as a hobby was given BBC airtime?
You can’t deny that there was sense in some of Rastani’s words, a solution to the economic crisis could be a long way off and investors need to protect their assets. Elements of the interview were points that have already been made by well-known financial spokespeople, and the media. “Markets are ruled right now by fear” for example is a fair comment which echoes the words of many commentators. Some people would argue that Rastani is simply saying what others are thinking, but was it right for a hobbyist trader with no FSA registration to appear on national TV?
Rastani is representative of what the general public hate about the current economic climate – the fact that some people are making money while others are genuinely suffering from the fall out. He didn’t help the image of city traders by failing to acknowledge the wider impact of the recession he says he dreams of, something he sought to rectify in his follow up interview with CNN.
Rastani’s motives for doing the interview have been questioned and according to the press he admits he is an attention seeker. Whether he was simply speaking his mind or being deliberately controversial to promote himself, it has had a huge impact – coverage has appeared globally and his Twitter followers have surpassed 12,500.
It will be interesting to see the impact for the PR world. Will guest bookers become more cautious of using lesser-known names for interviews? Spokespeople from small companies can make great commentators – the CEO of an investment boutique for example can say exactly what he thinks in an interview, he has nobody to answer to after all. It is good to include smaller companies alongside larger, better known names, and it would be a shame to see that disappear.
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