***********************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the three note-issuing banks (Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited) today (February 15) announced that HK$500 banknotes of the 2010 New Series would be put into circulation from February 22, 2011.
The new HK$500 banknotes, the designs of which are at Annex, will be available for exchange at the three note-issuing banks starting from February 22, 2011. HK$1,000 banknotes of the new series have been in circulation since December 7, 2010 and banknotes of the other three denominations of HK$100, HK$50 and HK$20 will go into circulation between late 2011 and early 2012. Together with the new series, all other banknotes currently in circulation will continue to be legal tender.
The new banknotes have incorporated state-of-the-art security features, the locations of which will be the same across all five denominations. The five key security features are:
* Dynamic Colour-changing Pattern ¡X colour shifting between green and gold with a shimmering horizontal bar seen to be rolling up and down when the note is tilted;
* Colour-changing Windowed Metallic Thread ¡X colour shifting between magenta and green and the "H" and "K" on the thread are made up of microtext;
* Standardised Enhanced Watermark ¡X comprising a multi-tonal watermark of a bauhinia flower and highlight watermark of the denomination numeral and dot pattern, a standardised design for the three note-issuing banks;
* Fluorescent See-through Pattern ¡X perfect registration of the patterns on the front and back, with two fluorescent colours visible under ultraviolet light;
* Fluorescent Serial Number ¡X the vertical serial number is fluorescent red under ultraviolet light.
Leaflets illustrating the security features of the new banknotes are available to the public at branches of the three note-issuing banks and the HKMA. An interactive online-learning programme is also available on the HKMA website at www.hkma.gov.hk.
Ends/Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:19
NNNN
