BANK Negara continues to receive a high volume of tip-offs from the public – an average of 187 cases a year over the past five years – on illegal remmitance activities, or “hawala”, despite enforcement and surveillance carried out to detect these activities, says deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying.
She said these unlicensed activities were not only exposing the industry to the risk of money laundering or terrorism financing but also bringing about other negative effects, including the loss of revenue for the country, an unrecorded outflow of capital, and a loss of confidence in the integrity of the financial system.
