Informal Funds Transfer Systems: An Analysis of the Informal Hawala System

By Mohammed El Qorchi, Samuel Munzele Maimbo, John F. Wilson

August 18, 2003

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Mohammed El Qorchi, Samuel Munzele Maimbo, and John F. Wilson Informal Funds Transfer Systems: An Analysis of the Informal Hawala System, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2003) accessed November 21, 2024

Summary

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there has been increased public interest in informal funds transfer (IFT) systems. This paper examines the informal hawala system, an IFT system found predominantly in the Middle East and South Asia. The paper examines the historical and socioeconomic context within which the hawala has evolved, the operational features that make it susceptible to potential financial abuse, the fiscal and monetary implications for hawala-remitting and hawala-recipient countries, and current regulatory and supervisory responses.

Subject: Balance of payments, Banking, Commercial banks, Currencies, Economic sectors, Financial institutions, Financial sector, Foreign exchange, Money, Remittances

Keywords: Authority, Commercial banks, Currencies, Financial sector, Hawala transaction, IFT, IFT system, IFT transaction, Middle East, North America, OP, Remittance system, Remittances, South America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Transaction, Transfer system

Publication Details

Pages:

64
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Occasional Paper No. 2003/004
Stock No:

S222EA
ISBN:

9781589062269
ISSN:

0251-6365

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