Hawala

The aim of this thesis is to provide a general overview of the current state of alternative payment systems with regard to their inclusion in the financial market, their properties and potentials for wider use, and to evaluate their possibilities to more effectively combat money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In the first chapter, the thesis explains the broader context with regard to financial systems, especially within the money market systems focusing on retail, while providing a deeper explanation of the context of European law and Czech law.
The second chapter is focused on closer analysis of alternative payment systems with regard to their use. Alternative payment systems are divided into two basic categories for centralized alternative payment systems and decentralized alternative payment systems. The category of centralized alternative payment systems corresponds to the current conventional financial market, taking into account the innovations that have emerged in recent years. Decentralized alternative payment systems are based on the DLT Blockchain technology and the Islamic Hawala payment system is analyzed as a purely informal, decentralized alternative payment system.
The third part of the diploma thesis provides analysis and possibilities of the law against money laundering and terrorist financing in connection with alternative payment systems. In the third part, the broader context of payment system is presented, while the implementation of recent AML directives is critically evaluated.
Key words: Payment services; Payment systems; Blockchain; Hawala; AML/CTF

This was the first-ever article to describe and analyze the possibility of a One-State Solution for Palestine/Israel from a Mizrahi positionality both in the Hebrew original and the English translation. Its composition -- like all of Lavie's writing about the Mizrahi feminist struggle in the context of the Question of Palestine -- has been fraught with all manner of relentless campaigns by those elements in academia that
would rather have Lavie and her research disappear. Needless to say that shortly after this article saw print in the Hebrew original in 2008 its analysis of the possibility for a one state solution for the Israel/Palestine conflict was appropriated and published without proper quotation or citation.

Drawing from their history of pro-Lebanon military support and origins associated therein, their formal entrance into the Lebanese government in 1992 and subsequent political actions and policies, and their social welfare and infrastructure based programs; Hezbollah has been able to effectively establish itself as a significant and influential faction to become a force of moderate Islamic representation for the people of Lebanon.

Initially presented at a Global Studies Conference in Dubai, this paper explores the role played by Indian Ocean trading hubs in general, and by Dubai in particular during the course of three historically distinct phases of globalization: prior to the appearance of European traders in the Indian ocean; during the growth of European empires; and in the aftemath the of their collapse.

This article explores the alternative futures of Hawala, a trust-based system used to transfer funds across countries and continents. This is done by using Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) along with P.R. Sarkar’s theory of social change as a basis for critiquing the social construct of the Hawala system. This offers a layered approach with which to analyze the classes of the value system and provide a framework for the discourse between the various classes. The essay is directed at policy makers, bankers, economists, policing agencies and other stakeholders as they evaluate the role of informal value transfer systems in the global economy, beyond sectoral silo focus.

On a global scale, the estimated flow of migrant workers’ remittances through formal channels now comfortably exceeds $100 billion per annum, whilst the unrecorded flow through informal channels amounts to at least as much again. During the last few years the IVTS networks through which the latter are transferred have attracted a great deal of attention, both because of a gradual realisation of their scale, and because of fears that they could provide a vehicle for drug smugglers and terrorists to shift funds without fear of detection by the authorities. Recently reinforced AML/CFT regulations aimed at curbing such illegitimate transfers are having an expensive impact on all sections of the financial services industry, no less in the formal than the informal sector. As yet, however, remarkably little attention has been paid to the basis on which the so-called ‘underground’ networks in the informal sector actually operate, the basis on which they organise and guarantee the security of their financial operations, let alone the extent to which they may have developed their own internal mechanisms for keeping drugs-smugglers and terrorist financiers at bay.

This paper examines how and why migrants remit through unauthorized remittance channels (namely the hawala or hundi) and investigates the hawala's developmental roles and effects on migrants’ socioeconomic status. Applying a qualitative case study of 30 low-income Pakistani migrants in Dubai, we argue that the thriving yet unauthorized status of the hawala system is a unique product of global migration process. In contrast to the dominant literature on the nexus between the hawala and terrorist and criminal-related financing, we assert that the sustainability of the hawala is the result of an ongoing effort of low-income migrants to increase their remitting power, providing money that is crucial to their families’ socioeconomic status within the con-text of rapidly globalizing forces. This study provides both important empirical and theoretical insights into the hawala's complex relevance for low-income migrants, governments, and international organizations in global migrati...

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the USA, attention was drawn to the age-old, secretive, and globe-spanning banking system developed in Asia and known as "Hawala" (to change, in Arabic). It is based on a short term, discountable, negotiable, promissory note (or bill of exchange) called "Hundi". While not limited to Moslems, it has come to be identified with "Islamic Banking".

Revolution in Internet and ease in use of latest technology is significantly increasing the use of latest technology worldwide, day by day. Advancement in digital devices such as computers and cell phones also helped the people to work both from home and offices. The ...

This article explores the alternative futures of Hawala, a trust-based system used to transfer funds across countries and continents. This is done by using Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) along with P.R. Sarkar’s theory of social change as a basis for critiquing the social construct of the Hawala system. This offers a layered approach with which to analyze the classes of the value system and provide a framework for the discourse between the various classes. The essay is directed at policy makers, bankers, economists, policing agencies and other stakeholders as they evaluate the role of informal value transfer systems in the global economy, beyond sectoral silo focus.

Chiefly drawing on my ethnographic fieldwork in the district of Keqiao in Zhejiang Province since 2009, I argue that irregular financial transactions—conceptualized as “funny money” in this article—play a significant role in the sustenance of otherwise tenuous business relations between Indian traders and Chinese suppliers in the China–Dubai fabric trade. Much of the fabric exported from Keqiao to Dubai relies on intertwined formal and informal transactions operated by Indian trading networks. These labyrinthine transnational funny money transactions aim to circumvent institutional hurdles and overcome deficiencies in operating capital, yet inherent to this system is a cycle of payment lags that cause tense relations between payers and payees. Funny money transactions facilitate eventual payment in most cases most of the time and maintain enough trust to keep the trade network alive. Furthermore, the interlocking circuits of funny money also prevent the overaccumulation of wealth and power by any particular stakeholder involved in the international trade and defy or at least circumvent the formal political authority of state and financial institutions that seek to curtail such practices. These transactions thereby create a larger space for business survival among the grassroots players, especially Indian traders who may not have enough capital available when they initiate a deal with a Chinese supplier.

"In recent history, the Taliban is the one internationally recognized terrorist group having fully integrated drug trafficking in its financing strategy. Alongside an elaborated taxation and territory control, the group took an active part in opium trafficking. This strategy notably accelerated after US attacks ousted the group from power in 2001.
In Afghanistan, drug production mostly originates from areas still under Taliban control (southern provinces). According to US authorities, Taliban earnings through narcotics could raise between 200 and 400 m dollars over the last 10 years. The primary source of money is coming from tax on production and authorization of cultivation granted to local producers. Revenue extorted to local producers directly goes to the Taliban financial commission. In 2012, UN AL Qaeda § Taliban sanctioned monitoring estimated poppy trade to represent one third of the Taliban budget ($130 million)
On a broad basis , Taliban are using a 10% tax called ushr to the farmers on areas under their control. Taxes on poppy (used for opium and heroin) production can be higher. Additionally, small traders are paying Taliban’s another tax while truckers are paying a transit tariff for each kilo of opium transported in the country. Taliban are also paid for protecting labs where the production is transformed into heroin. Large drug organizations are also directly paying the Qetta Shura, a governing body of Taliban living in the province of Qetta.
Taliban have direct and durable links with drug traffickers. As an example,    Haji Kotwal Noorzai , an Afghan national, heralding a national drug network was recently noted in close collaboration with Taliban fighters. He was purchasing weapons and transported them directly to local soldiers. This cooperation resorted on two conditions imposed by Taliban: First, Taliban would authorize poppy cultivation in the areas under their control while enabling transport of narcotics to the Pakistani border.  After a few years of cooperation, Kotwal was appointed to collect Zakat for the Taliban from other narcotics traffickers. Just like mentioned examples in Africa, Afghan dealers are providing Taliban with weapon, vehicles, motorcycles. Recently, they even set up hospitals in Baluchistan where wounded Taliban fighters were treated.  Importance of drug trafficking for the group finance is regularly mentioned and confirmed by the US forces. In 2012, US intelligence intercepted a decree from Mullah Nahim Barrich  , a Taliban chief indicating:
“The poppy funds will permit the Taliban to survive; therefore, it must be protected at all costs.” 
Drug production in Afghanistan was considered as an important source of funding even before the Taliban reached power in 2001 . But the presence of the Taliban played a role in accelerating this production According to the UNODC, 1015 square miles of net poppy cultivation was reported in the country in 2018, the double of the figures reported in 2001.  In 2016, reports indicated the Taliban were even fencing off certain cultivation areas with IEDs and provided local producers with permanent security against government forces.  In 2018, in the Eastern region, more than half of the villages took part in opium poppy cultivation. In the Southern region, it was almost 93 per cent of them.  In those areas, mainly under Taliban control, cultivating opium poppy is considered in 2020 as the main revenue provider of those households. Some Taliban leaders even played an essential role in opium production. Mullah Akthar Mansour, Taliban former leader, was responsible for the drug market of Gerdi Ganjal, located in the province of Baluchistan, according to Hashim Wahdatyar  , former Program Officer for the UNODC"

JEL classification: G210 The banking industry is one of the most important industries in developing countries, thus it plays a major role in the financial industry. Moreover, e-banking has simplified financial transactions. This study investigates the effect of individual factors on user behaviour and the moderating effect of attitude on the relationship between individual factors and user behaviour based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. A model suggests a second-order components research framework that improves current explanations of electronic banking channel services acceptance and sheds light on the role of attitude on the acceptance of electronic banking channel services which is the most important key concern. Data were collected using an online questionnaire with 476 valid responses from academic staff who work at the University of Sulaimani; the model has been tested using the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling approach. The results show that individual factors have a positive effect on user behaviour and also show that attitude has a negative effect on the relationship between individual factors and user behaviour as a moderator.

Terorisme merupakan salah satu kejahatan yang menjadi perhatian dunia. Dan dalam sebuah kejahatan, faktor finansial merupakan salah satu faktor yang paling dominan dalam kaitannya dengan keberlanjutan organisasi terorisme tersebut. Data menunjukan bahwa aksi terorisme yang ada membutuhkan dana yang tidak dapat dikatakan sedikit. Ada 4 sumber pendanaan terorisme, salah satunya adalah dengan kegiatan-kegiatan ilegal seperti pencucian uang. Seiring dengan berkembangnya waktu sistem keuangan seperti salah satu contohnya Hawala menjadi  salah satu alat yang digunakan dalam terorisme. Hal inilah yang dicoba untuk dijelaskan penulis.

Balkanalysis.com editor's note: while world media have covered in depth the European Union's approach to the migrant crisis, little attention has been paid to ongoing financial-sector EU legislation, and its ability – or lack thereof – to control possibly illicit international transactions, using alternative methods such as the Hawala system, favored by many Muslim migrants. (A basic explanation of how the system operates is available here on Wikipedia). In the following analysis, Bulgarian banking expert Gergana Yordanova explains the relevant EU legislation and the discrepancies with the Hawala system-as well as the implications could have for EU security and financial policing.

A tight-knit network of informal traders is exploiting a vacuum of law enforcement in southern Nepal to generate significant operating capital for the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The traders employ the same money laundering techniques as others in Nepal did a decade before, as the legal loopholes, lack of infrastructure, and widespread corruption that created these opportunities were not addressed. Nepal and India continue to focus on individual criminals in their attempts to shut down the networks, rather than reforming the structural conditions allowing the networks to operate. As a result, the traders operate in an environment conducive for the creation of vast sums of informal wealth with few barriers to operation and at little risk.

Taking into account the global expansion that certain traditional financial practices like
hawala have experienced in the last decades, it is undeniable that both cultural diversity
and different moral perceptions have become relevant questions in the international
financial arena. Consequently, hawala, an ancient financial system profoundly rooted in
Islamic moral traditions, offers an extraordinary setting to explore over a real institution
the theoretical debate about the potential universality of ethics. Moreover, hawala makes
us think over the relationship among legality, formality and morality.
This paper discusses the economic, social and ethical features of hawala, in order to
shed some light into the question of whether diverse economic phenomena may be
judged under Western standards or rather it is necessary to appeal to a superior body of
universal values, respectful with the different cultures and religions. The authors show
that the current —legalistic— approach to hawala results overly partial and biased.
Therefore they conclude that it is essential to bring about a change towards a more
ethically, culturally and economically sensitive approach, which would enable hawala to
develop its full potential and become a vehicle for financial and economic development.
It is necessary to consider the “hyper-norms” and fundamental principles inherent to
humanity, which are common to both “formal” and “informal”, “Western” and “non-
Western” financial practices, when designing a legal framework for these cultural
financial traditions.

Abstract Revolution in Internet and ease in use of latest technology is significantly increasing the use of latest technology worldwide, day by day. Advancement in digital devices such as computers and cell phones also helped the people to work both from home and offices. The ...

This article explores the alternative futures of Hawala, a trust-based system used to transfer funds across countries and continents. This is done by using Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) along with P.R. Sarkar’s theory of social change as a basis for critiquing the social construct of the Hawala system. This offers a layered approach with which to analyze the classes of the value system and provide a framework for the discourse between the various classes. The essay is directed at policy makers, bankers, economists, policing agencies and other stakeholders as they evaluate the role of informal value transfer systems in the global economy, beyond sectoral silo focus.

The present paper looks into the subject matter of the developing Islamic Finance industry within the context of reforms introduced within the banking system of the Russian Federation, par excellence. In that respect Shariah-compliant financial products and services performed by banks in Russia are investigated and discussed. The study aims at capturing some advancements of Islamic banking and Finance industry across tools, systems, sectors and markets in Russia and Tatarstan. Some of the prospects and policy implications of Islamic Finance within the first three largest credit institutions on the territory of the Russian Federation are followed in the present paper as reference point, but results are summarized and imposed against the aggregated banking market. Additional conclusions and implications for Islamic Finance development within the context of the European geo-economic security are discussed.

Au fil de quelque 360 pages, les 17 auteurs réunis autour de Sabrina Mervin, dans le cadre de l'Institut Français du Proche-Orient, s' attachent à présenter objectivement le Hezbollah et ses constituants sous des angles historique, anthropologique et politique. De quoi donner ...

This papers discusses the tactics and facts surrounding the combination of criminal organizations and International terrorist organizations in the Triple Frontier area of Ciudad Del Este, Paraguay, Foz do Iguazu, Brazil, and Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. It discusses the criminal ties that terrorists groups such as al-Qaeda and Hezbollah have in the region as well the varieties of illegal activities that these organization use to fund terrorist networks. Ultimately the goal of this paper is to bring to light the fact that this "triple frontier" is a threat in the war on terror, one that many Americans ignore or are not aware that it exists. My paper brings to light the fact that while the United States fights in Afghanistan or Iraq that it disregards the very real threats in its own backyard.

As the Financial Services industry discovered in 2008, when push comes to shove, contractual agreements cease to be worth the paper on which they are written, above all because of the evaporation of mutual trust. Can this alarming source of financial risk be remedied? And if so, how?

Sudah menjadi rahasia umum bahwa kegiatan teror menelan biaya yang tidak sedikit. Para pelaku teror membutuhkan biaya yang besar untuk membeli bahan peledak, senjata, sewa properti, membeli identitas, kewarganegaraan, makanan, kendaraan dan kebutuhan-kebutuhan lainnya. Pemerintah meyakini bahwa apabila aliran pendanaan ini dapat diputus, aktivitas teror juga akan dapat dihentikan . Sampai sejauh ini press release yang dikeluarkan pemerintah terkait sumber pendanaan kegiatan teror di Indonesia menyebut Hawala  sebagai sistem yang digunakan untuk mengalirkan dana bagi para pelakunya.
Hawala saat ini dikenal sebagai sistem pengiriman uang (remittance system) bukan bank yang beroperasi di luar sistem jaringan perbankan konvensional. Secara historis, Hawala sendiri berasal dari jazirah Arab dan merupakan sistem perbankan utama jauh sebelum bank konvensional berdiri. Hawala memberikan satu asumsi bahwa di masa lalu, setiap peradaban besar dunia memiliki sistem pengelolaan perbankan yang mandiri dan maju.

U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks have given a new insight into American policy in Lebanon, especially efforts to counter Hizballah. Hizballah’s willingness to use a combination of hard power through violence and coercion, combined with a softer touch via extensive patronage networks has given them unmatched control over the Shi’a community since the 2005 Cedar Revolution. Using these released cables, this study will focus on efforts, successes, and failures made by so-called “independent” Shi’i political organizations, religious groups, and NGOs to counter Hizballah’s pervasive influence among Lebanon’s Shi’a.

2006 Global Transactions: Sending Money Home. Refuge: Special Issue on Multiple Homes and Parallel Civil Societies: Refugee Diasporas and Transnationalism Guest Editors: R. Cheran and Wolfram Zunzer, 22(3):28-35.

This paper draws on ethnographic research in America
and Ethiopia to explore the phenomenon of Sudanese
(Nuer) refugee remittance from those in the diaspora to
those who remain behind in Africa. Specifically it locates
the unidirectional flow of cash within transnational flows
of people, goods, and information. This multi-sited study
explores the impacts of these transfers on both sides of the
equation. It documents the importance of remittances as a
vital component of survival and investment in the future
for Nuer refugees in Ethiopia. Similarly it raises questions
about the siphoning off of resources on the social, cultural,
and economic integration of Sudanese in the United
States. Finally, it situates remitting behaviour within a
broader socio-historical context to explain its centrality in
maintaining a Nuer community across national borders.
Resumé
L’article s’appuie sur des recherches ethnographiques menées
en Amérique et en Éthiopie pour explorer le phénomène
des versements que font les réfugiés soudanais
(Nuer) de la diaspora à leurs compatriotes restés en Afrique.
Il permet d’établir que le flux monétaire unidirectionnel
se situe plus particulièrement au sein de la
circulation transnationale de personnes, de biens et de
renseignements. L’étude, effectuée dans divers lieux, analyse
les conséquences de ces transferts pour les deux parties.
Elle documente l’importance des versements en tant
que composante vitale de la survie des réfugiés nuer
d’Éthiopie et de l’investissement pour leur avenir. Ce faisant,
l’essai soulève la question du détournement de ressources
au profit de l’intégration sociale, culturelle et
économique des Souadanais aux États-Unis. Enfin, il situe
le comportement associé aux versements dans une
perspective socio-historique élargie pour expliquer le son
rôle crucial vis-à-vis du maintien de la communauté
nuer au-delà des frontières nationales.

This article explores the alternative futures of Hawala, a trust-based system used to transfer funds across countries and continents. This is done by using Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) along with P.R. Sarkar's theory of social change as a basis for critiquing the social construct of the Hawala system. This offers a layered approach with which to analyze the classes of the value system and provide a framework for the discourse between the various classes. The essay is directed at policy makers, bankers, economists, policing agencies and other stakeholders as they evaluate the role of informal value transfer systems in the global economy, beyond sectoral silo focus.

Η Τραπεζική δεν είναι πάντοτε θελκτική στους χρήστες της, άλλοτε ως προς το ύψος των προμηθειών και άλλοτε η υπερρύθμισή της αποκλείει ή/και αποτρέπει σημαντική μερίδα των εν δυνάμει πελατών. Ταυτόχρονα η πολυπλοκότητα των διεθνών σχέσεων για την κοινή γνώμη αναγάγεται στο τετριμμένο επίπεδο των ιμπεριαλιστικών τάσεων, ενώ η αποφασιστικότητα των εθνικών αρμοδίων αρχών κωλύεται από την ανυπαρξία ουσιαστικής περιφρούρησης της διεθνούς ασφαλείας και ειρήνης. Είναι μάλλον αναμενόμενο δράσεις τρομοκρατίας σπανίως να αποτρέπονται αλλά και οι Πολιτείες να μοιάζουν ανήμπορες και αναρμόδιες να καταστείλουν τη χρηματοδότηση των τρομοκρατών.