New notes promise to short-change the counterfeiters
Hong Kong's banking leaders yesterday unveiled new-look $100 and $500 banknotes they said were a step up in the war against counterfeiters.
The first post-handover note designs, other than last year's $10 bill, they also drop images of Government House and the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank headquarters in favour of Chek Lap Kok airport and the Tsing Ma bridge.
The notes, which go into circulation in December, include enhanced anti-counterfeiting measures such as a hidden barcode, holographic thread woven into the paper and an iridescent bauhinia flower visible only under bright light. New $20, $50, and $1,000 bills will be introduced in the second half of next year.
Introducing the designs yesterday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's chief executive, Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, said: 'A banknote should be pleasing to the eye, should say something about the community that uses it and, above all, should be difficult to forge.'
He said the new anti-counterfeiting features were essential to protecting Hong Kong's credibility as a financial centre. 'You must keep in mind the most important factors are the security features ... we have got some secret weapons incorporated into the new notes which we will not divulge here today.'
Standard Chartered chief Peter Wong said the images on the notes 'pay homage to our long history in Hong Kong by depicting the changing faces of The Peak and Victoria Harbour'.
He Guangbei, the chief executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Holdings, said: 'Our banknotes reflect Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.'
