Starting January 1, 2021, Singapore will stop issuing S $ 1,000 banknotes to reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The decision was announced by the Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS) today.
For the time being, two months before the due date, S $ 1,000 banknotes are still available in limited and valid amounts in any payment.
MAS explained that the steps taken are expected to avoid the dominance of large sums of banknotes by anonymous individuals.
The effort is also in line with the actions of foreign countries and major jurisdictions that do the same for the same reason.
The development of more advanced and more secure electronic payment systems has also affected the need for transactions involving large amounts of cash.
As a result, the bank will redistribute banknotes worth S $ 1,000 received during the storage process and to cover the shortfall, S $ 100 banknotes will be provided in sufficient quantities to meet demand.
MAS stopped its issuance of S $ 1,000 banknotes for the second time after ending the issuance of S $ 10,000 banknotes in 2014.
At that time, the S $ 10,000 banknote was the most valuable note in the world.
