In this issue, we describe the industry’s newest banknote production facility – IMBISA in Spain. Another example of a new printworks that has also built innovation in from the start is Guangzhou Banknote Printing Co Ltd (GBPC), the seventh and newest of China Banknote Printing and Minting’s banknote factories.

The focus of this month’s coverage of cash information in central bank annual reports is Asia, looking specifically at Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan and New Zealand.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is seeking to standardise the parameters used by banknote sorting machines to ensure uniform fitness standards across the different models and makes of equipment being used.

Established in 2020 to support national law enforcement authorities in their efforts to fight financial and economic crimes and aid international cooperation, Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) has recently released its first threat assessment on the matter.

Ibrahim Stevens has become Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone. He has been First Deputy Governor since July 2014, and succeeds Kelfala Kallon.

Banknote security features won two out of the five categories in the 2023 Excellence in Holography Awards, presented by the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) at the recent annual online Holography Conference.

Bank Al-Maghrib has issued a new coin series as part of its latest round of currency updates. Alongside new 10 and 20 centimes, and ½ dirham, 1, 5 s and and 10 dirham coins, an updated 100 dirham banknote has also been issued as the first in a new note series.

The International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) held a webinar recently to discuss how sustainability is, and can be, incorporated into tenders by central banks. Purchasing power is, of course, a powerful lever for achieving policy goals.

Readers will recall in earlier editions that we addressed a number of significant highlights following G+D`s Currency Technology Symposium held in July. This is the final story, focusing on key elements of the day dedicated to Louisenthal, G+D’s substrate and feature subsidiary.

At the awards ceremony held during the gala dinner at the Mint Directors Conference in Ottawa last month, the winner of the Best Circulating Coin category was the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) for the $2 Honey Bee coin, issued in 2022 as a joint collaboration with the Honey Bee Industry Council to mark the bicentennial of the establishment of the bee industry in Australia.

META Materials Inc, a developer of high performance functional materials and nanocomposites which acquired security feature specialist Nanotech Security Corp in 2021, has announced details of a restucturing plan that will see it focus on core business lines that are either generating revenues, or expected to do so in the near future.

Bank Note Paper Mill India Ltd (BNPMIL) has recently celebrated its Foundation Day.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that it will allow old banknotes that were due to be phased out in December to remain legal tender indefinitely, following a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court.

The Intergraf Currency + Identity Conference and Exhibition took place from 18-20 October in Bilbao, Spain. The Bilbao Exhibition Centre hosted this year’s 940-plus participants from the two branches of the industry, of which more than 170 were from central banks, government and law enforcement, along with 107 exhibitors.

The Banknote Conference, held every two years, is an independent, neutral forum for industry leaders to meet and discuss innovations, efficiencies, best practices, and new technologies and solutions that benefit their operations.

As covered in last month’s Currency News, in the Spring of 2023 Oberthur Fiduciaire took out a majority stake in Rolling Optics, which was founded in 2005 with solid technical background from research at the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) roared into the public consciousness in 2023. Its widespread use and, more importantly, its potential have become visible to all, not just the small specialist user community that has been working on it for years. Clearly, AI is of great interest to central banks from the policy makers through the cash issue department.

At the recent Mint Directors Conference in Ottawa, the Mint Directors Association (MDA) was formally announced. It has now been legally incorporated as a not-for-profit association, and is the successor to the MDC, the looser association of mint directors that has been in existence since 1962.

The Royal Mint has unveiled eight new coin designs inspired by flora and fauna across Britain that will soon appear on official UK coins, ranging from the 1p to the £2.

The Monetary Authority of Macao, together with the country’s two note issuing banks – Bank of China and Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) – have held a presentation to unveil a new series of banknotes with enhanced features for security and the visually impaired.