Banknotes
Draghi defends high-value euro banknotes
Letter to MEP Nikolaos Salavrakos outlines reasons for having €200 and €500 banknotes
Turkey reveals new currency symbol
Turkish prime minister leads ceremony at the Central Bank of Turkey to unveil the new symbol for the lira
BoE looking 'carefully' at banknote substrate choices
Chris Salmon, chief cashier at the Bank of England, says the possibility of polymer or hybrid substrate banknotes is being looked at by the central bank; no decision made yet
Lithuania continues restructure of operations
Bank of Lithuania continues “optimising” operations; will concentrate key functions within specialised services and close a vault
A new toolkit for eurozone survival
The eurozone’s short-term outlook depends on markets, voters, bureaucrats and politicians. Its longer term future requires radical change. Andrew Smithers considers the conditions that are needed for the eurozone to survive
Central bankers attend Financial Action Task Force meeting
Central bankers from many of the 136 member countries of FATF share thoughts on combating money laundering
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Libya begins phasing out old banknotes
Banknotes depicting the late colonel Muammar Gaddafi being removed from circulation; new currency series on the way
Euro counterfeit banknote figure creeps up
Number of known fake euro banknotes hit 310,000 during in the second half of 2011, up 5% on the first half of the year
Malaysia announces new coins’ circulation date
Bank Negara Malaysia announces new coins to enter circulation this month; new banknotes will not be released until the end of 2012
Nigeria rolls out ‘cash-less’ Lagos project
Central Bank of Nigeria issues clarifications as cash-less society is introduced in Lagos; reassures public that cash transactions have not been eliminated altogether
Malaysia launches new banknote series
Bank Negara Malaysia reveals designs and security features of five denominations in new currency series
Zambian president sparks ‘fake’ money panic
Zambian president refers to 'fake' money in circulation; finance minister accuses central bank of shirking legalities in awarding latest banknote printing tender to German company
Management of South African Mint Company suspended
South African Reserve Bank announces mystery 'technical issues' uncovered; top management suspended with immediate effect
Austria's Nowotny under scrutiny in banknote bribery case
Governor Ewald Nowotny and members of the central bank’s supervisory board under investigation; accused of having knowledge of bribery of foreign officials in race to win banknote printing contracts