The European Central Bank (ECB) says it will no longer produce the \u20ac500 (\u00a3400; $575) note because of concerns it could facilitate illegal activities.<\/p>\n
The decision comes in the wake of a European Commission inquiry in February into the way the notes are used.<\/p>\n
Senior ECB officials said at the time that they needed more evidence that the notes facilitated criminal activity.<\/p>\n
The UK asked banks to\u00a0stop handling \u20ac500 notes\u00a0in 2010 after a report found they were mainly used by criminals.<\/p>\n
The ECB says the \u20ac500 banknote remains legal tender and will always retain its value.<\/p>\n
It will stop issuing the note around the end of 2018, when it will bring in new \u20ac100 and \u20ac200 banknotes.<\/p>\n
A report earlier this year for\u00a0the Harvard Kennedy School, urged the world’s 20 largest economies to stop issuing the largest notes in circulation – \u00a350, $100 and \u20ac500 notes – to tackle crime.<\/p>\n
Peter Sands, former chief executive of Standard Chartered bank, said the high-denomination notes were favoured by terrorists, drug lords and tax evaders.<\/p>\n
Illegal money flows exceed $2 trillion (\u00a31.4 trillion) a year, he said.<\/p>\n
Source: www.bbc.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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