Today, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) concluded a review of the denominational structure of the Europa series. It has decided to permanently stop producing the €500 banknote and to exclude it from the Europa series, taking into account concerns that this banknote could facilitate illicit activities.
The issuance of the €500 will be stopped around the end of 2018, when the €100 and €200 banknotes of the Europa series are planned to be introduced. The other denominations – from €5 to €200 – will remain in place.
In view of the international role of the euro and the widespread trust in its banknotes, the €500 will remain legal tender and can therefore continue to be used as a means of payment and store of value. The Eurosystem, which comprises the ECB and the euro area national central banks, will take steps to ensure that the remaining denominations are available in sufficient quantities.
The €500 banknote, like the other denominations of euro banknotes, will always retain its value and can be exchanged at the national central banks of the Eurosystem for an unlimited period of time.
In April, Reuters reported that European Central Bank looks set to stop printing the 500 euro note, arguing it is used to finance crime.
The 500 euro note is worth more than five times the value of the largest U.S. denomination -- the $100 bill -- and has been dubbed the 'Bin Laden' for its alleged links to terrorism and the difficulty of finding it.
Nearly a third of the 1 trillion euros circulating last year was stored in 500 euro notes, ECB data showed.
Yet 56 percent of European Union citizens have never seen one, according to a 2011 ECB survey, because the note is mainly used for hoarding cash, rather than paying.
