Alternative Remittance Systems And Terrorism Financing: Issues In Risk Mitigation

This paper is designed to cover a subset of such category, i.e. the realm of unregulated/informal Alternative Remittance Systems, also known as informal value transfer systems (IVTS). In these cases, operators form a parallel, underground financial system aimed at rapidly and effectively moving value within or between jurisdictions, often without being detected by regulators and law enforcement, and usually without available transaction records. Where prevalent (as it is often the case in low-income economies), ARS are frequently the only mechanism by which the poor or isolated can send and receive funds and therefore provide an essential service to facilitate economic activity. On the other hand, money and value transmission channels are being evaluated for vulnerabilities that may make them attractive for illicit use, including the financing of terrorism.The paper aims to help countries trying to bring these informal alternative remittance systems into their counter-terrorist financing regime without hindering the poor??s ability to effectively send and receive funds at low cost.