EU finance ministers call for restrictions on €500 note over crime fears

According to Europol, the high-value banknote accounts for a third of all the euro notes in circulation

EU finance ministers have called for an investigation into the a500 note, amid growing concern it is making life easier for terrorists, money launderers and drug barons.

The French finance minister, Michel Sapin, said it was right to ask questions about the use of the euro's largest-denomination note. "The a500 note is more used to conceal then to purchase, more used for easing dishonest transactions than to allow you and I to buy something to feed ourselves," he said.

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