ECB Wants Proof That 500-Euro Note Helps Criminals

European Central Bank officials want to see evidence that high-denomination euro banknotes facilitate criminal activity rather than relying on unproven assertions, Executive Board member Yves Mersch said.

   “There are policemen who are having opinions on this matter, and also in the G-20,” Mersch told reporters in Zurich on Thursday. “I would be very happy if any substantiated evidence would be shipped to the ECB.”

   Mersch spoke days after ECB President Mario Draghi told European lawmakers that the institution is reviewing its policies on issuing 500-euro ($560) banknotes. The practice has concerned law-enforcement officials in the region for years, and former Bank of England policy maker Charles Goodhart, an authority on money supply, described it last year as “shameless.”

   In discussions with European law-enforcement officials, “it was always the same,” Mersch said. “We said: These are assertions. We would like to have them confirmed by evidence so that we could take the appropriate action.”

Πηγή: bloomberg.com