The Royal Australian Mint (RAM) has now published its report and accounts for 2022-2023.

Post COVID-19, following Manila in 2022, the Asia Cash Cycle Seminar (ICCOS) headed to Bangkok this year, organised by Currency Research with the Bank of Thailand as co-host.

Earlier this year, Oberthur Fiduciaire announced the acquisition of a 65.5% stake in Rolling Optics. The Swedish-based company uses micro-lens patterns to create 3D effects in film, and its technology already underpins some of the existing micro-optics security features on the market (see CN February 2023).

Reconnaissance International, co-publisher of Currency News™, is pleased to announce the release of its new report – ‘Smartphones for Authentication’ – the only publication of its kind.

Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBS) has launched its EQUINOX24 global event, which will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland from 20 May to 14 June 2024.

Over the course of the last four years, four currency series in the Caribbean have converted to polymer – starting with the East Caribbean dollar in 2019, followed by Trinidad and Tobago in 2020, then Barbados in 2022 and, most recently, Jamaica this summer.

Do you want to hear about an actual counterfeiting case? Well, here is your chance! The High Security Printing (HSP) Conference Asia is taking place in Sri Lanka, 4-6 December 2023. Register now for what will prove to be a most interesting Counterfeit Workshop, entitled ‘Operation Timerbrier – A Counterfeiters’ Fall from Glory’.

So called ‘normal times’ ended in many respects more than three years ago, in early 2020. Since then, developments have been characterised by growing uncertainty and volatility, first by the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption of global supply chains, and then by geopolitical tensions created by the Russian attack on Ukraine and inflation of food and energy prices.

After the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) announced earlier this year that the Philippines’ new polymer 1,000 piso was the 2022 Banknote of the Year winner (see CN April 2023), the Melbourne branch of the IBNS formally presented the award to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Assistant Governor Mary Anne Lim in a ceremony held at Note Printing Australia.

Until relatively recently, we ran a round-up of company results in the quarterly Industry Watch. We have replaced this with a periodic summary of central bank annual reports relating to cash, but continue to cover the companies in our sector with reviews of their interim and annual results.

In 2022, Global Compact Réseau France launched the SDG Awards, designed to reward companies in all sectors that contribute to the concrete implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are committed to initiatives that advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Three well-known faces from our industry have joined forces to set up a new firm offering consulting and advisory services for governments, central banks, security printing house, technology suppliers, brand owners and financial investors.

The Federal Reserve has started a publicity campaign for its FedCash® E-Manifest Service. The new system is digitising a hitherto manual system for matching paper manifests for deposits and orders at Federal Reserve docks with a technology based on GSI US standards that enables scanning and the electronic exchange of data in real time.

The London Climate Technology Show, which took place end September, was full of start-ups and other more established companies offering solutions to measure your environmental footprint, to offset your carbon, to sequester your carbon in the soil/ocean/trees etc. etc. etc.

Toshiba – the Japanese industrial conglomerate and one of only two producers of high speed currency processing systems – has announced that a ¥2 trillion ($14 billion) tender offer from private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) has ended in success, paving the way for the company to go private.

In March, Currency News™ featured an interview with Dr Wolfram Seidemann, CEO of G+D Currency, on the topic of building a resilient cash infrastructure.

China Banknote Ink Co Ltd (CBI) provides security inks and related products for China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation (CBPM).

The Future of Cash conference typically attracts some 120 participants from central and commercial banks, CIT and cash management companies, academics and other cash cycle stakeholders. The 2023 event takes place 6-8 November in Istanbul, and the full agenda is now available.

SICPA and the INX Digital Company – the US-regulated broker-dealer, ATS, and transfer agent which offers the first-ever SEC-regulated digital asset trading platform for both cryptocurrencies and security tokens – have launched a new joint venture, Nabatech, to aid government and central bank construct sovereign digital asset ecosystems.

The Banknote Ethics Initiative (BnEI) has announced the appointment of Prof Deon Rossouw, the CEO of The Ethics Institute in South Africa, as its new Chairman. He takes up his new position in October.