FMI
Nazis “destroyed confidence” in BoE notes with expert counterfeits
MI5 report from 1945 says Nazis destroyed confidence in British banknotes; produced counterfeits of such high quality it was “impossible” for a lay person to tell them from the real thing
Sepa end-date set in stone following final vote
European Parliament passes legislation imposing a February 1, 2014 deadline for migration to Single Euro Payments Area after regulation receives overwhelming support of MEPs in Brussels
Philippines warns on fake commemorative banknotes
Central Bank of the Philippines denies issuing a 150 piso commemorative banknote; asks the pubic to report any information on the ‘fictitious’ notes to the authorities
Boston Fed investigates effects of credit scores on payment choice
Discussion paper finds evidence to back anecdotes that debit card use is negatively impacted by poor credit scores
Solomon Islands warns of counterfeits and announces new coins
Solomon Islands public warned about counterfeit banknotes in circulation; central bank also announces new coins to be issued
New South African banknotes will portray image of Mandela
First democratically elected president of South Africa honoured in currency redesign; new notes expected by the end of 2012
Central banks find novel uses for old banknotes
Central Bank of Ireland makes old notes into artwork; National Bank of Hungary offers the decommissioned banknotes to charities to burn for heating purposes
SNB announces year-long delay on new banknotes
Problems with suppliers mean the new Swiss banknotes will not enter circulation until the end of 2013 at the earliest; latest hiccup in long process of renewing the currency
EPC outlines new models for mobile payments
European Payments Council requests feedback on new model for contactless and remote mobile payments in Europe; focuses on the preferred type of secure-elements technology used in mobile phones
Malaysia and China extend currency swap arrangement
People's Bank of China and Bank Negara Malaysia renew and expand currency swap arrangement, designed to facilitate greater bilateral trade and investment
Norges Bank announces end date for public to exchange old banknotes
Norwegians have until November 2012 to exchange old series of banknotes before they are rendered worthless, 11 years after new currency series was introduced
Lithuanian central bank completes euro credit migration to Sepa
Bank of Lithuania says government institutions holding accounts with central bank will now be able to initiate and receive payments in euros through Sepa credit payments scheme
Queen's portraits from banknotes and coins to appear on stamps
New stamps issued to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee; first time the official portraits from banknotes, coins and stamps have been brought together
Estonian central bank finds public retaining kroons as memento
Bank of Estonia study finds 81% of respondents are holding on to some kroon cash; not using it for savings shows confidence in the euro, says head of cash and security department
Malaysian and Thai central banks agree deeper cooperation
Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand sign agreement to facilitate a cross-border collateral arrangement for eligible financial institutions in the countries
Bahrain completes transition to Iban
Commercial banks in Bahrain will now use international bank account numbers as preferred method for international and domestic payments
Basel guidance on settlement risk delayed until June
Updated guidance on FX settlement risk from Basel Committee and CPSS was originally due by end of 2011, but now has an expanded remit
BoE’s Salmon expects tighter regulation of payment operations
Bank of England executive director of banking services says authorities will pay more attention to network of payment operations and question the internal organisation of firms’ operations
Finland commemorates the end of the markka
New book describes the history of Finnish banknotes and museum exhibition displays competition entries for past currency design contests
Tajikistan announces enhanced payments systems
National Bank of Tajikistan launches national processing centre' striving to bring banking services up to date
Zambia raises capital ratio for banks and rebases currency
Bank of Zambia reveals government decision to hike capital requirements for banks operating in the country; three zeros also to be slashed from value of banknotes
ECB in talks with dealers on buying inflation-linked bonds
Dealers will present their case as to why the ECB should buy linkers as well as nominal bonds in a conference call today
Interview: Gerard Hartsink
European Payments Council chairman Gerard Hartsink tells Yusuf Yassin he welcomes the decision to set end-dates for Sepa migration, but says concerns about the regulation, raised in October, remain
ECB report urges progress on Sepa card payments migration
European Central Bank study says considerable effort is still needed to achieve an integrated European market for card payments