Annotation The study examines the hawala system 's operational characteristics, vulnerability to financial abuse and regulatory implications.

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.

This book, which reflects the IMF staff's work in Afghanistan from early 2002 through the first quarter of 2004, provides an overview of the institutional and economic achievements in Afghanistan in the post-Taliban period, that is, from late 2001 to early 2004. During this period, the staff focused on helping (often under difficult circumstances) the Afghan authorities quickly establish abasic framework for economic management and policies, including rebuilding key institutions. Reconstructing Afghanistan describes the strong economic recovery that took place during 2002 and 2003; traces the formulation and implementation of the government’s budgetary policy; discusses the progress made in rebuilding fiscal institutions; and outlines the challenges and issues that the authorities faced in the area of monetary and exchange rate policy.

Criminal and terrorist organisations are increasingly turning to white collar crime such as fraud, e-crime, bribery, data and identity theft, in addition to more violent activities involving kidnap and ransom, narcotics and arms trafficking, to fund their activities and, in some cases pursue their cause. The choice of victims is global and indiscriminate. The modus operandi is continually mutating and increasing in sophistication; taking advantage of weaknesses in the system whether they be technological, legal or political. Countering these sources of threat finance is a shared challenge for governments, the military, NGOs, financial institutions and other businesses that may be targeted. Shima Keene’s Threat Finance offers new thinking to equip any organisation regardless of sector and geographical location, with the knowledge and tools to deploy effective counter measures to tackle the threat. To that end, she brings together a wide variety of perspectives - cultural, legal, economic and technological - to explain the sources, mechanisms and key intervention methodologies. The current environment continues to favour the criminal and the terrorist. Threat Finance is an essential read for fraud and security practitioners, financial regulators, policy-makers, intelligence officials, judges and barristers, law enforcement officers, and researchers in this field. Dr Keene offers an antidote to the lack of good, applied, research; shortcomings in in-house financial and forensic expertise; misdirected financial compliance schemes; legal and judicial idiosyncrasies; unhelpful organisation structures and poor communication. She argues convincingly for a coherent, aggressive, informed and cross-disciplinary approach to an ever changing and rapidly growing threat.

Hawala and other remittance systems have gained attention in recent years with the substantial growth of remittance flows from countries with large migrant labor forces and with increased focus on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The IMF and the World Bank have been researching these systems since 2002 to better understand the interplay of historical, cultural, and economic factors that promote such systems. This book is a survey of regulatory practices and an overview of experiences in different countries, and includes articles on regulatory frameworks in remitting and receiving countries and on the problems that can arise when regulating remittance systems.

"Afghanistan has come a long way since emerging from major conflict in late 2001. The economy has recovered strongly, growing by nearly 50% cumulatively in the last two years (not including drugs). Some three million internally and externally displaced Afghans have returned to their country. More than four million children, a third of them girls, are in school, and immunization campaigns have achieved considerable success. The Government has supported good economic performance by following prudent macroeconomic policies and it has made extraordinary efforts to develop key national programs and to revive social services like education and health. Nevertheless, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world in terms of both per-capita incomes and social indicators, with large gender gaps. The difficult challenge of poverty reduction is made even more difficult by continuing insecurity, weak rule of law, and narcotics. Afghanistan - State Building, Sustaining Growth, and Reducing Poverty provides a greater understanding of the core challenges that lie ahead for Afghanistan and key priorities for national reconstruction. The Afghan economy has been shaped by more than two decades of debilitating conflict and has some very unusual features which this study analyzes. The authors argue that the country must break out of the vicious cycle that would keep it insecure, fragmented politically, weakly governed, poor, dominated by the illicit economy, and a hostage to the drug industry. The study presents key elements for a breakthrough in the next two years but the daunting agenda will require strong commitment, actions, and persistence on the part of the Government and robust support from the international community."