(February 17 – 14:00 ET) – Ottawa is proposing to elimiate the $1,000 bill as an anti-money laundering measure.
The proposal was developed by the Finance Department in consultation with the Bank of Canada, the federal Solicitor General, the RCMP and other Canadian law enforcement who say that the $1,000 bill is popular for money laundering.
“This proposal is another step forward in our fight to take the profit out of organized crime and combat money laundering,” says Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay .
The proposal must be approved by Governor in Council before the Bank of Canada can stop issuing $1,000 notes. Once this is granted existing notes will gradually be withdrawn from circulation. There are about 3.8 million $1,000 bills in circulation, about 10% of the value of all currency in circulation.
“This complements the Government’s new anti-money laundering bill, which was introduced in December, and contributes to the Government’s overall objectives in the fight against criminal activity,” says Jim Peterson Secretary of State for Finance.
That bill proposes the creation of mandatory suspicious transaction reporting within the financial industry, a development that will bring new obligations to financial advisors and other frontline financial staff. For more information see the story in the upcoming mid-February issue of Investment Executive.
-IE Staff