As one example of that, the Open University has recently made available on-line a set of three modules for helping adults better understand  38  G30 Working Group (2015). 39  New City Agenda (2014). 40  See BIS (2012). BIS central bankers’ speeches  9  financial matters and, ultimately, make better financial choices. 41 Charities like Citizens Advice are also doing fantastic work in this area. Of course, part of the reason so many members of the public find finance difficult is because it is difficult – and, sometimes at least, it is made deliberately so. There is plenty of evidence, including from the financial crisis, of financial products being made more complex than was necessary and consumers being charged a premium for buying them. 42 This damaging cycle persists because of the difficulties consumers understandably face when trying to compare these products. To give a personal example, I consider myself moderately financially literate. Yet I confess to not being able to make the remotest sense of pensions. Conversations with countless experts and independent financial advisors have confirmed for me only one thing – that they have no clue either. That is a desperately poor basis for sound financial planning. This problem is one which, if anything, is becoming more acute over time. More of the risk associated with financial decisions is these days being shouldered, not by the state or companies, but by individuals. Take pensions.
The possible need for speedy assistance necessitates that a central bank must have internal procedures for managing requests for liquidity support and doing so very rapidly. To accomplish this, central banks need to have a detailed crisis plan that can be put in place within very short notice. The crisis plan should include the following types of information: Organisational structure •  A division of responsibilities for analysis, information, decision-making, etc. •  Staffing requirements for different tasks, with substitutes. Analysis plan •  A description of the information necessary to make a decision about whether or not a systemic crisis may occur. •  Necessary information about systemically important individual banks. Information strategy •  A plan for informing and coordinating information and decisions with the other domestic agencies involved in the crisis. •  A plan for informing authorities in other countries about the situation. •  A plan for communicating with the financial markets. •  A plan for spreading information to the public and media (ex ante and ex post transparency). Plan for implementing ELA •  A clear description of the routines which must be followed and the legal requirements which must be met for ELA. Legal procedures, for example contracts, for lending against other collateral than what is normally eligible •  An inventory of the instruments available for implementing ELA. •  Guidelines for acceptable collateral and appropriate haircuts.