News

Bribery scandal halts £5 polymer banknotes printing deal

July 27, 2011

According to The Age, the Bank of England has cancelled a secret order to print £5 banknotes on polymer material supplied by Securency International, a Reserve Bank of Australia subsidiary, following an international bribery scandal surrounding the company.

The Commonwealth of Australia prosecutor David Sewell yesterday told the Melbourne Magistrates Court that Securency and Note Printing Australia, also a wholly owned subsidiary of the RBA, agreed to accept a plea brief relating to charges that the two companies conspired to bribe officials in Indonesia and Malaysia in an attempt to strike advantageous business deals.

Kuala Lumpur authorities have charged a former Malaysian assistant central bank governor with accepting two bribes from the companies.

Seven former Securency and NPA executives have been charged in alleged bribery attempts involving millions of dollars paid to middlemen in order to secure contracts in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The Age reports that the Bank of England was preparing for a trial printing of its £5 note on Securency's polymer material, but halted the deal after learning of the criminal charges against the company.

Despite being under investigation by the AFP since May 2009, Securency has had some recent international success. The Canadian central bank has announced it will switch the country's currency from paper to Securency's polymer. India has also run a large trial of polymer banknotes.

Securency and NPA will be in court again on September 7.

For more information on this topic, visit our vault cash/cash management research center.