Euro counterfeiting

The European Unions Council of Ministers is expected this Spring to give formal approval to a regulation on fighting counterfeits of Euro notes and coins, which will oblige all banks, credit institutions and bureaux de changes to withdraw from circulation any suspect cash which they encounter. Under the new law the organisations will have a legal duty to hand over suspect currency to the competent national authorities. Each member state will be forced to take “necessary measures” to ensure that the financial establishments which fail to meet these obligations are subject to “effective, proportionate and deterrent sanctions.”