€1m in €500 notes fits easily into a small laptop bag, where the same amount in €50 notes would require a small suitcase. Cash mules have been known to fold the notes into plastic pellets and swallow them. A less dangerous method of concealment is to stuff the banknotes into a car chassis. The UK stopped distribution of the €500 note in 2010 on the grounds that demand for it was “almost entirely for criminal purposes ”. In 2009, Italy’s central bank warned that the notes were widely used by mafia money launderers and terrorists. Other countries have limited their own high- denomination notes due to links to organized crime – Canada scrapped its $1,000 note in 2000 on the advice of law enforcement officers. In an age of electronic payment systems and contactless cards, more are questioning whether printing these notes can be justified. Peter Sands, the former head of Standard Chartered Bank, has called for the abolition of high-denomination notes, including the €500, the $100, the 1,000 Swiss Franc note and the £50. In a report for the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Sands argued it was time to get rid of high-value notes that make life easier for “bad guys” pursuing tax evasion, financial crime, terrorist finance and corruption. Although criminals would switch to smaller- denomination bills, or gold or diamonds, these substitutes are bulkier and