2016-03-22 Tue

Europe wants to ban the €500 note to stop criminals from dealing in black money using high-denomination notes. In Spain everyone knows that this note exists but nobody has ever seen one. A Chinese businessman in Spain named Gao Ping is currently being prosecuted for laundering up to $335 million a year using these high denomination notes from his network of 4,000 Chinese bazaars, which sell plastic junk.

The U.K. has already banned the 500 Pounds notes. The reason criminals favour cash is because it is still the most anonymous way to transact. France has banned cash transactions over 1000 pounds. Germany and Austria on the other hand still favour cash.

This ban on high-value cash transactions is also about tax, and tracking what law-abiding citizens spend. Experts believe that cash would disappear in a few years as it is today valued by criminals dealing with black money.