Fake currency note: SBP directive to banks and DFIs

State Bank of Pakistan has directed the banks and DFIs to make special arrangements to check the counterfeiting of currency. Despite the SBP claim that the new currency notes were more secure than the old currency notes, the SBP was receiving reports that the circulation of fake currency notes was increasing.
After complaints from public in general and banks in particular, the SBP on Thursday issued special instructions to the banks and DFIs to keep an eye on fake currency notes.
The SBP, in a circular to the heads of bank and DFI, said that security features of currency notes had been improvised recently and various other measures were also being taken to combat the counterfeiting of currency.
However, the menace of counterfeiting like other crimes needs to be checked and confronted with as a challenge for financial institutions, central bank and the law-enforcement agencies.
To curb the incidence of currency counterfeiting, the SBP advised the banks and DFIs to install detection machines at their main branches their own use as well as for the use of general public free of cost by December-end.
The SBP also advised the banks to educate their customers about the security features of currency notes and create awareness through the forum of Pakistan Banks Association.
The banks and DFIs should also maintain a close liaison with the relevant law-enforcement agencies to get to the source of crime and help apprehend the manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors of fake currency, said the SBP.
In addition, the banks have also been instructed to encourage general public to hand over any counterfeit note that has come to their possession to the nearest bank branch or the SBP Banking Services Corporation office and report the incident to the law-enforcement agencies.
The SBP said the all banks and DFIs were advised to ensure implementation of the precautionary measures on priority basis, and announced that the SBP's inspection teams and Off-site Surveillance and Enforcement Department will include specific modules to check compliance of the banks and DFIs with the SBP instructions.