Too Much Privacy: Finnish Police Want Big Euro Notes Taken Out of Circulation

jones_supa writes The Finnish Police are concerned that larger banknotes, namely the €200 and €500 banknotes, encourage criminal activity and should therefore be removed from Finnish cash circulation. Markku Ranta-aho, head of the Money Laundering Clearing House of Finland, says criminals prefer cash because it is harder for police to track. In contrast, a record of electronic money transfers remains in the banking system, which makes the police's job considerably easier. Ranta-aho also says citizens rarely use the larger banknotes anyway, with which The Bank of Finland's advisor Kari Takala agrees. However, The Bank of Finland is skeptical about the ability of a ban on €500 banknotes to eliminate underground labor and trade in Finland. Takala suggests criminals would just switch to smaller bills. More illegal transactions take place via bank transfers, he says.

Comments

Re: if you ban cash

[Anonymous Coward]

"You got the stuff?"
Yeah.
"You got the money?"
Yeah. My trunk is full of unmarked quarters.

Re:Not only in Finland.

[PPH]

Not a problem. We've switched our organized crime over to using mortgage and insurance backed securities.