| 释义 |
hawala, n.
Brit. |haˈwɑːlə|, U.S. |həˈwɑlə|
Forms: 19– havala, 19– hawala, 19– hawalla
[‹ Arabic ḥawāla transfer of funds and of the responsibility to pay a designated recipient, lit. ‘bill of exchange, promissory note, letter of credit’.]
An informal system of transferring money, traditional in Arab countries and South Asia, whereby a sum of money is paid to an agent who then instructs an associate (typically in another country) to pay a designated recipient. Freq. attrib. Cf. hawaladar n.
Typically, reimbursement between agents who participate in the system is a matter of trust; no formal records are kept. An agent typically receives a small percentage of the money transferred, but may also receive a regular retainer payment from frequent clients.
1916Encycl. Islam II. No. 22. 292/2 The ḥawāla is an agreement by which the debtor is freed from a debt by another becoming responsible for it. 1968Econ. Hist. Rev. 21 240 The Islamic hawala did not necessarily contain an exchange element, since the interest was defined as a payment for avoiding transport risks. 1996T. N. Murari Steps from Paradise 397 We knew you wouldn't object, and anyway the hawala dealer was demanding that we make the payment as soon as possible. 2004H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) ii. 47 Another problem relates to Hawala..which enables the transfer of money without leaving a trail of paper or the ‘footprints’ left by electronic transfer. |