May 4 2016
The European Central Bank is set to axe the €500 note in a bid to crack down on money laundering.
The move, which has been mooted for some time, was agreed at a meeting of the ECB’s governing council yesterday. Due to the relative ease with which high sums of money can be transported as €500 notes, the bill has become a favoured method of payment for “those pursuing illicit activities”, says a recent Harvard University study.
The denomination is associated with “money laundering operations, the black market, the drug trade and terrorist financing” and as such has become known in some circles as a “Bin Laden”, says The Guardian.