Hawala bankers1 are financial service providers who carry out financial transactions without a license and therefore without government control. They accept cash, cheques or other valuable goods (diamonds, gold) at one location and pay a corresponding sum in cash or other remuneration at another location. This service is comparable with services provided by official banks and by non-banking financial institutions such as Western Union and MoneyGram, yet unlike these companies, hawala bankers disregard the legal obligations concerning the identification of clients, record keeping, and the disclosure of unusual transactions, to which these official financial institutions are subject.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Al-Hamiz, S. (2005). Hawala: A U.A.E. perspective. In International Monetary Fund, Monetary and Financial Systems Department. Regulatory frameworks for hawala and other remittance systems (pp. 30–35). Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
Bunt, H. G. van de, & van Dijken, A. (2004). Official and informal financial services. In H. G. van de Bunt & C. R. A. van der Schoot (Eds.), Prevention of organised crime: A situational approach (pp. 55–62). Den Haag: Boom Juridische Uitgevers.
Bunt, H. G. van de, & Kleemans, E. R. (2007). Georganiseerde criminaliteit in Nederland. Derde rapportage op basis van de monitor georganiseerde criminaliteit. Den Haag: Boom Juridische Uitgevers.
El-Qorchi, M., Maimbo, S. M., & Wilson, J. (2003). Informal funds transfer systems: An analysis of the informal hawala system. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund, Occasional Paper No. 222.
FATF. (2003). Combating the abuse of alternative remittance systems. International best practices. Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering.
FATF. (2005). Money laundering & terrorist financing typologies 2004–2005. Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering.
Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360–1380.
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. The American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481–510.
Houssein, M. D. (2005). Somalia: The experience of hawala receiving countries. In International Monetary Fund, Monetary and Financial Systems Department. Regulatory frameworks for hawala and other remittance systems (pp. 87–93). Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
International Monetary Fund. (2005). Globalization and external imbalances. World economic outlook: Globalization and external imbalances (Chap. 3, pp. 69–84). Washington DC: International Monetary Fund.
Johnston, R. B. (2005). Work of the IMF in informal funds transfer systems. In International Monetary Fund, Monetary and Financial Systems Department. Regulatory frameworks for hawala and other remittance systems (pp. 1–6). Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
Jost, P. M., & Sandhu, H. S. (2000). The hawala alternative remittance system and its role in money laundering. Lyon: Interpol General Secretariat.
Kleemans, E. R., Brienen, M. E. I., & van de Bunt, H. G. (2002). Georganiseerde criminaliteit in Nederland. Tweede rapportage op basis van de WODC-monitor. Reeks Onderzoek en Beleid 198. Den Haag: WODC/Boom Juridische Uitgevers.
Maimbo, S. M. (2005). Challenges of regulating and supervising the hawaladers of Kabul. In: International Monetary Fund, Monetary and Financial Systems Department. Regulatory frameworks for hawala and other remittance systems (pp. 47–64). Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
Misztal, B. A. (1996). Trust in modern societies. Cambridge: The Polity Press.
Munshani, K. (2005). The impact of global international informal banking on Canada. An Empirical Research Commissioned by The Nathanson Centre for the study of organized crime and corruption and the Law Commission of Canada.
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks. (2004). The 9/11 Commission report. Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Passas, N. (1999). Informal value transfer systems and criminal organizations: a study into so-called underground banking networks. Den Haag: Ministerie van Justitie, WODC.
Passas, N. (2005). Informal value transfer systems and criminal activities. Den Haag: Ministerie van Justitie, WODC.
Perkel, W. (2004). Money laundering and terrorism: informal value transfer systems. American Criminal Law Review, 41(1), 183–211.
Razavy, M. (2005). Hawala: An underground haven for terrorists or social phenomenon? Crime, Law and Social Change, 44(3), 277–299.
Schramm, M., & Taube, M. (2003). Evolution and institutional foundation of the hawala financial system. International Review of Financial Analysis, 12(4), 405–420.
Thompson, E. (2006). The nexus of drug trafficking and hawala in Afghanistan (Chap. 6). In D. Buddenberg, & W. A. Byrd (Eds.), Afghanistan’s drug industry: structure, functioning, dynamics and implications for counter-narcotics policy (pp. 155–188). Washington, DC: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and The World Bank.
Unger, B., & Siegel, M. (2005). The amounts and effects of money laundering. Report for the Ministry of Finance, February 16, 2006. Utrecht school of Economics.
The World Bank. (2006). Global economic perspectives. Economic implications of remittances and migration. Washington, DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank (published November 2005).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
de Bunt, H.v. (2008). The Role of Hawala Bankers in the Transfer of Proceeds from Organised Crime. In: Siegel, D., Nelen, H. (eds) Organized Crime: Culture, Markets and Policies. Studies in Organized Crime, vol 7. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-74733-0_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-74733-0_9
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-74732-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-74733-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)