Occasional Paper

1 total work

Informal Funds Transfer Systems

by Mohammed El Qorchi, Samuel Munzele Maimbo, and John F. Wilson

Published 30 August 2003

This joint IMF-World Bank paper contains the analysis and conclusions of a study on the operational characteristics of the 'informal hawala system' used predominantly in the Middle East and South Asia. This term refers to money transfers that occur in the absence, or are parallel to, formal banking sector. Aspects discussed include: the historical and socio-economic context within which hawala has evolved; fiscal and monetary implications; current regulatory and supervisory responses.