Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An informal system for transferring money, especially across borders, in which local agents disperse or collect money or goods on behalf of friends, relatives, or other agents without legal protection or supervision, trusting that all remaining obligations will be settled through future transactions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A long-established,
informal system ofmoney transfer fromIndia and theMiddle East , still in use bymigrant workers .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an underground banking system based on trust whereby money can be made available internationally without actually moving it or leaving a record of the transaction
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hawala.
Examples
-
Much of the funding came through a black-market banking system called hawala, which is common throughout the Middle East and South Asia.
-
“Operation Green Quest is focusing on the informal, largely paperless form of money exchange known as hawala, which is Arabic for ‘to change.’”
06/28/2006 2006
-
That is because a preferred method of transferring illegal money is called hawala.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Cleo Paskal 2011
-
Mohammad Younis, 44, was indicted on charges of operating an unlicensed money transfer business known as a hawala, an informal network popular in South Asia and the Middle East.
N.Y. man helped get funds to attempted Times Square bomber, officials say 2010
-
Mohammad Younis, 44, was indicted on charges of operating an unlicensed money transfer business known as a hawala, an informal network popular in South Asia and the Middle East.
N.Y. man helped get funds to attempted Times Square bomber, officials say 2010
-
Officials have speculated that he used informal Middle East money-transfer networks known as hawala, which are difficult to trace.
Pakistan arrests man with militant ties who says he aided Times Square bomb suspect 2010
-
Officials have speculated that he used informal Middle East money-transfer networks known as hawala, which are difficult to trace.
Pakistan arrests man with militant ties who says he aided Times Square bomb suspect 2010
-
Mohammad Younis, 44, was indicted on charges of operating an unlicensed money transfer business known as a hawala, an informal network popular in South Asia and the Middle East.
N.Y. man helped get funds to attempted Times Square bomber, officials say 2010
-
* The main way to get cash out of Dubai is something called hawala, an informal network of secret money-transfer agents all over the world that circumvents the global banking system.
The Shadow Market Eric J.Weiner 2010
-
Mohammad Younis, 44, was indicted on charges of operating an unlicensed money transfer business known as a hawala, an informal funds network popular in South Asia and the Middle East.
N.Y. man helped get funds to attempted Times Square bomber, officials say 2010
-
Hawala is an Arabic term roughly meaning “to change” or “to transfer.”
The (Dis)assembly of Information Miles Kellerman 2024
hernesheir commented on the word hawala
Also, hundi.
February 13, 2010
hernesheir commented on the word hawala
Interpol explains halawa in depth.
February 13, 2010
bilby commented on the word hawala
Hawala or halawa?
February 13, 2010
hernesheir commented on the word hawala
I prefer listing terms in lowercase unless I'm certain the term is a proper noun that would be capitalized regardless of its position in an English sentence.
February 13, 2010
hernesheir commented on the word hawala
Halawa refers to halva, the sweet; hawala has to do with a means moving money outside the formal banking system - money that sweetens many a deal, legal or otherwise.
February 13, 2010
bilby commented on the word hawala
So what does Interpol have against sweets?
February 13, 2010
pterodactyl commented on the word hawala
Interpolate too many sweets and now has a tummyache.
February 18, 2010
john commented on the word hawala
“India has relatively few bank branches for a country its size, so many migrants stuff money in their mattresses or send cash home through traditional “hawala,” or hand-to-hand networks.”
The New York Times, Do Believe the Hype, by Thomas L. Friedman, November 2, 2010
November 3, 2010