Spain worried about high 500 euro notes circulation

Spain has the highest circulation of €500 notes in the eurozone with over a quarter of all these notes in the EU, leading Spanish authorities to set its anti-money laundering agency on the case.

When the European Central Bank (ECB) in January 2002 put the euro currency into circulation, 13 million €500 notes – or 3.5 percent of the total – were released in Spain.

Now that share is 26 percent of the total, which represents an increase of 32 percent from just one year ago. The €500...