500 euro note to be scrapped?

Eurozone finance ministers are calling for the European Central Bank to scrap the 500 euro note. The ministers cite ECB research that shows the banknote accounts for 30 per cent of the 1 trillion euros of cash in circulation in 2015 - something that they are concerned could make the notes useful for funding terror organisations.

"We are going to ask the ECB to look at cash money and the accessibility of the 500 euro note," Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Reuters.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, though, argues that the move could devalue the currency.

"Abolishing a note that represents almost 30pc of the total euros in circulation would be a negative for the currency," Athanasios Vamvakidis, a currency strategist at the US bank, told The Telegraph.

"The US dollar is the most liquid currency and we would expect it to capture a large share of the drop in the demand for the euro as a store of value. However, the Swiss franc could also benefit, having the largest note denomination in G10 economies. Indeed, the 1000 Swiss franc note is already very popular, representing more than 60pc of the Swiss franc notes in circulation."