Regulations of United States Governing International Money Laundering Through Alternative Remittance System

Through the money laundering, a criminal makes illegally gained funds look as if legally acquired. When someone wants to disguise the roots of his illegally gained funds, money laundering permits him to do so without worrying the risk of loss, impediment. and penalty. Money laundering could become a socially very destructive crime if each national government does not deliberately keep an eye on the circumstances. With the attacks of terrorists including Islamic State, anti-money laundering regulations both in the United States and international organizations have focused on the alternative remittance system because terrorists have used these systems to finance their activities through money laundering. The alternative remittance system is originally came from China and the Middle East, and it is known by various names, the most common name is “hawala.” The hawala system traditionally works by transferring money outside of formal banking system. The hawala system transfers funds without actual movement. The IMLA Act and the FATF established basis to regulate ARS, but these regulations can not effectively control illegal use of ARS because of its characteristics. First, ARS is based on trust; second, the transaction does not need the physical or electronic transfer of money but only an exchange of debt; lastly, the transaction needs very limited paperwork. To effectively control the hawala system, the U.S. should work together with multiple nations and jurisdictions, employ an incentive-based strategy to get help from hawala dealers, and educate the public to inform the benefits of using licensed money transmittal businesses. The ARS is originally came from China, and many foreign workers who has Chinese nationals including Korean-Chinese has come to South Korea, so there is a possibility that the funds could be provided to China’s criminal organizations. Therefore, the government of South Korea should deliberately keep an eye on the circumstances of the money laundering, and should consider to reflect three policies to effectively control ARS for the US government proposed by this paper.