Les hawalas : les systèmes informels de transfert des fonds[Hawala: informal funds transfer systems]

The informal systems of transfer of funds (hawalas) arouse an increased interest on behalf of the authorities concerned to regulate them but also among the researchers who try to analyze how they operate for better appreciating of their macroeconomic impact. These institutions are primarily used by the emigrants in order to repatriate part of their income towards their native countries and constitute a source of alternative financing taking into consideration failure of the traditional banking structures. However, hardenings of the regulation are likely to weaken these systems and to deprive a large category of the population, mainly the poor, of an essential supplementary income.