Paris, Sept. 3 -- Underground banking, hawala and other similar service providers (HOSSPs) have emerged as major channels for professional money launderers, with some cases involving more than EUR 500 million being laundered within a few months, according to a new report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The report, released on Thursday, said the criminal misuse of underground banking and HOSSPs was widespread globally, with more than 80 per cent of reporting jurisdictions identifying them among the principal channels or techniques used by professional money launderers.
It said underground banking and hawala networks had become increasingly professionalised, operating as sophisticated, scalable and commercially driven cross-borde...