Banks aren't exactly popular right now. With bankers getting bailouts, Sir Fred a figure of national hate over his pension, and Gordon Brown talking tough about re-regulation, our banks are under a lot of pressure to clean up their act and become a bit more responsible.

Sadly this new found enthusiasm has yet to extend to how the big banks behave in poor countries. Thanks to free trade, these big banks can muscle in and exploit new markets - all as part of the 'global europe strategy' of which the ever popular custard-faced Peter Mandelson was an architect.

Typically the victims of this expansion are poor communities - whereas in the UK bank accounts and credit are taken for granted, the big banks freeze out poorer people from access to these services - which in themselves could help them work their way out of poverty.

So this all makes HSBC's latest tv ad all the more ironic. It tells the jovial story of a washing machine salesman from Poland who travels to India to investigate a mysterious increase in sales. The punchline is that an entrepreneur is using the machines to make juice. Watch it in it's full glory here:

Ahhh I feel warm and fuzzy inside - 'it's your bank' after all.

So what is it really like running a business and trying to deal with 'the world's local bank'?

Oh dear. And it gets worse. You can read a more in depth report about how the big banks (mis)behave on WDM's website.