Scrap high-denomination banknotes, urges ex-bank boss

Former Standard Chartered chief says eliminating a500, $100, SFr1,000 and 50 notes would prevent corrupt payments

Governments should consider scrapping high denomination banknotes to combat financial crime and tax evasion, including paying tradespeople in cash, a former bank boss has said.

Criminals move more than $2tn (1.4tn) around the world each year, corrupt payments amount to $1tn and tax evasion robs countries of up to 70% of their tax income, according to a paper by Peter Sands, the former chief executive of Standard Chartered who advises the British government. Yet efforts to stem the flows by catching perpetrators or detecting payments result in less than 1% of illicit flows being seized.

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