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

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.

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.

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.

Following the coverage of the iLearn partnership between Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBS) and Aflatoun International in last month’s Currency News™, an important event is coming up on the subject of financial literacy.

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.

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.

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’.

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 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.

Meta Materials, under its former name of Nanotech Security Corporation, has been a pioneer in banknote OVD technology for the past decade with innovations in micro-, nano- and now plasmonic structures.

Koenig & Bauer Banknotes Solutions (KBBS) is forging ahead with its agenda to create physical-digital technology bridges with the announcement of two new partnerships linked to digital authentication.

The Vacuumatic Group, in operation for over 70 years, has announced a restructuring programme involving the closure of its headquarters at Colchester in the UK, and the transfer of production to its former sales and service subsidiary in Germany.

Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBS) and Aflatoun International, a global leader in innovative financial literacy ecosystems, have announced a new partnership to explore and develop new ways to enable access to financial literacy resources, using banknotes as a tool.

Hitachi Payment Services, India’s leading integrated payment solutions provider and a subsidiary of the Japanese multinational technology conglomeration Hitachi, has entered into an agreement to acquire the cash management business of Writer Safeguard from its parent, the Writer Corporation.

The Central Bank of Jordan has issued the fifth and final note in its new series – the 5 Jordanian dinar (JD).

The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has been reinstated as a unified sovereign institution, almost a decade after it was split in two because of the civil war.

This month we look at Europe, and the annual reports of some Eurosystem central banks, as well as the central banks of Albania, Denmark, Kosovo and Hungary.

What do the KGB, the Chinese Communist Party, the Canadian Prime Minister and the UK’s Brexit campaign leader have in common?