Germany's Bundesbank said it will exclude Chinese and Vietnamese central bank officials from anti- counterfeiting seminars over concerns about the countries' use of the death penalty for serious cases of forgery.
"The Bundesbank wants to make sure it doesn't give advice on the subject of counterfeiting to countries that impose the death penalty for money forgery," a spokesman for the Frankfurt-based central bank said today, adding that this is currently the case "in at least 2 countries, China and Vietnam."
The Bundesbank will stop inviting officials from the 2 countries' central banks to its seminars on "cash management and combating counterfeit money," it said. It will continue to cooperate on other subjects, from monetary policy to banking supervision.
The move comes after German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported earlier today that the Bundesbank was supporting Chinese officials in combating forgery and that at least 1 person in the South Chinese province of Hunan has been sentenced to death for counterfeiting.
The Bundesbank said on Jan. 17 it had shelved an anti-counterfeiting venture with the Central Bank of Bangladesh over concerns the country planned to impose the death penalty for serious cases of forgery. Bangladesh's central bank said the next day it would drop the plans.
The Bundesbank is currently examining if countries other than China and Vietnam are imposing the death penalty for forgery, the spokesman said. It has not yet made a decision on whether it will restart the anti-counterfeiting venture with Bangladesh.
Source: Business Week, January 27, 2013