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19  For example, Knack and Keefer (1997), La Porta et al (1997) and Boulila et al (2006). 20  Guiso et al (2008) and Zingales (2015). 4  information  please  see  http://www.financial-  BIS central bankers’ speeches  and protracted erosion of social capital. It puts finance on notice for losing its social licence. And, unaddressed, that jeopardises future wealth and well-being. The trust problem If this trust in finance problem is to be tackled, it needs first to be understood. Why trust is important, and what determines it, are issues that have occupied the world’s greatest minds for centuries, perhaps millennia. The philosopher Baroness O’Neill from Cambridge University often draws an important distinction between “trust” and “trustworthiness”. 21 Although this may sound subtle, it carries important implications. Seeking to maximise trust may be an unrealistic and, indeed, undesirable objective for society. In a world of risks and uncertainties, including about individuals’ trustworthiness, people need sometimes to mistrust if they are to avoid bad choices. If the principle of caveat emptor – buyer beware – is to work effectively, not just in financial services but more broadly, it requires a constructively sceptical public. Like cholesterol, there is such a thing as too much trust, as well as too little. A plausible objective of public policy, then, is not to maximise trust among consumers of financial services, but to maximise trustworthiness among its producers.