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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 14:24

ECB scraps EUR 500 bill

BC, Riga, 05.05.2016.Print version
The European Central Bank said on May 4th it would no longer produce and issue EUR 500 banknotes, amid fears the purple-colored bills were favored by criminals for money laundering and even terrorist financing, reports LETA/AFP.

The ECB "has decided to permanently stop producing the 500 euro banknote and to exclude it from the Europa series, taking into account concerns that this banknote could facilitate illicit activities," said the bank in a statement following a meeting of its governing council.

 

The bank would stop issuing the banknotes around the end of 2018, but that those currently in circulation will remain legal tender. Existing bills can also be exchanged at national central banks of eurozone nations for an unlimited period of time, added the ECB.

 

According to ECB statistics, the EUR 500 bills account for just three percent of the total number of banknotes in circulation, but 28% of the total value.






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