relied on a loose form of calendar or date - based guidance, in which they committed to leave rates low for “ an extended period of time. ” in some cases, a more specific time frame was mentioned, such as mid - 2014 or mid2015. the commitment was not unconditional, however. there was a clear, if implicit, understanding that, if the state of the macroeconomy and the inflation outlook were to change materially, the central bank would respond appropriately. the bank of canada pioneered the use of conditional guidance in april 2009. 2 it committed to hold the policy rate at its effective lower bound through the second quarter of 2010, conditional on the outlook for inflation. the bank ’ s guidance succeeded in changing market expectations regarding the future path of interest rates, providing the desired stimulus and thereby underpinning a rebound in growth and inflation in canada ( chart 2 ). 3 in more recent applications, forward guidance has become more explicitly outcome - or databased, with some central banks identifying thresholds such as specific rates of inflation or unemployment which, if crossed, would prompt a reconsideration of their policy track. the second form of unconventional monetary policy employed by many central banks involves purchasing large amounts of government bonds or other financial instruments. “ quantitative easing, ” as it is generally known, is viewed as a complementary and more direct means of easing credit conditions, exerting immediate upward pressure on the prices of the assets that were purchased, as well as those of other assets, through a process of at the zero lower bound, interest rate risk is asymmetric : short - term rates can rise, but they cannot fall. this asymmetry causes the mean or expected outlook for short rates to be greater than the modal or most likely path. thus, guidance can lower long - term rates by reducing uncertainty about the future path of short - term rates, even if it does not change the modal expectation as to the duration at the lower bound. for a review of the evolution of forward guidance, see m. carney, “ monetary policy after the fall ” ( eric j. hanson memorial lecture, university of alberta, edmonton, 1 may 2013 ). see z. he, “ evaluating the effect of the bank of canada ’ s conditional commitment policy, ” discussion paper no. 2010 – 11, bank of canada, 2010 ; and m. woodford, “ methods of policy accommodation at the interestrate lower bound, ” paper presented at the jackson

• third, all countries are involved in this fight, and there are no winners if illicit financial flows are not dealt with. it is noteworthy that the financial sector is the most common conduit for illicit financial flows. this is largely attributed to the interconnection between national and international financial united nations sustainable development goals ( september 2015 ). available at : https : / / sustainable development. un. org /? menu = 1300. global financial integrity ( 2010 ) illicit financial flows from africa hidden resource for development. available at http : / / www. gfintegrity. org / storage / gfip / documents / reports / gfi _ africareport _ web. pdf. stop it! track it! get it! report of the high level panel on illicit financial flows from africa ( 2015 ). available at http : / / www. uneca. org / sites / default / files / publicationfiles / iff _ main _ report _ 26feb _ en. pdf. bis central bankers ’ speeches systems, which can thereby provide a wider geographical reach through which illicit financial assets are moved and laundered. the financial sector, therefore, has to be at the forefront of the agenda to stem illicit financial flows. nevertheless, in order to develop and implement policies that would appropriately address the issue of illicit financial flows it is important to appreciate the vulnerabilities of african financial systems. more importantly, to understand how they enable or facilitate the movement of illicit financial flows. most of our economies are characterized by the presence of informal financial systems that are primarily cash based. however, significant gains have been made in increasing the level of financial inclusion, most notably in sub - saharan africa, where countries like kenya and tanzania have embraced mobile and financial products and services. but the overall level of financial inclusion in africa remains low. only a small percentage of the population has bank accounts, and the percentage of those owning insurance policies and securities is even lower. this is relevant given that it serves to hamper efforts to trace illicit financial flows from the continent. weak banking regulatory and supervisory frameworks has largely hindered the effective implementation of initiatives aimed at reducing illicit financial flows from africa. this is reflected at the national level, given that most african countries are yet to fully adopt and implement the 2012 financial action taskforce ( fatf ) recommendations, the international standards on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. the fatf standards are a comprehensive framework of preventive measures