De La Rue Loses Contract with Reserve Bank of India

[Bimat]

Bank of India chooses De La Rue's replacements

By Mark Leftly
Sunday, 4 September 2011

FTSE 250 papermaker De La Rue is expected formally to lose its biggest customer, the Reserve Bank of India, as the bank unveils a new raft of banknote producers.

Shares in the 190-year-old British group slumped last year after it revealed production issues with one of its sets of bank notes, which later turned out to be staff faking quality-control test results. Although De La Rue respected client confidentiality at the time, the group confirmed that this was in India later in the year.

It also emerged that De La Rue – the world's biggest banknote designer and producer, with more than 150 currencies – was to be excluded from the latest round of Indian contracts.

Sources suggested that Germany's Giesecke & Devrient, Fortress Paper of Canada, and France's Arjowiggins were favourites to split the contract.

Following the scandal, France's Oberthur Technologies tried to buy De La Rue. However, a revamped management team led by chief executive Tim Cobbold fought off the bid.

Oberthur has been widely rumoured to be considering a second tilt later this year, though it is understood also to have drawn up a shortlist of new targets.

De La Rue declined to comment.

Source: Independent

[Coinsforever]

Finally RBI is proceeding in right direction.


Cheers

[$$]

Dear Adi

Really you are the great source of valuable information on coins and bank notes.

We are proud of you.

Samir

[Bimat]

05 September, 2011 - 15:21

De La Rue braces for RBI contract loss

De La Rue is bracing for confirmation from the Reserve Bank of India that it is to move to a new consortium of printers after the UK banknote maker's contract was suspended last year due to printing irregularities.

UK broadsheet, the Independent on Sunday reports that the Indian central bank is set to announce a new deal with a group of rival suppliers, with Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, Fortress Paper Ltd. (FTP) and Arjowiggins SAS favorites to split the contract.

Shares in De La Rue crashed last year as the company revealed that its largest customer had suspended production due to quality control issues. The firm's CEO was forced to resign and the Serious Fraud Office was called in as it emerged that staff had "deliberately falsified" paper specification test certificates on banknotes.

The loss of the contract will increase pressure on De La Rue, which has been the subject of takeover speculation since the scandal broke.

French card manufacturer Oberthur, which last month entered into exclusive negotiations with Advent on a €1.15bn deal for its card systems and identity divisions, is expected to use the proceeds of the sale to fund another bid for De La Rue after a joint bid with Bain Capital foundered earlier this year.

Source: FineExtra

[Bimat]

Alarm bells ring, contract is off after detection of faulty banknotes

Posted: Wed Sep 14 2011, 01:10 hrs
New Delhi:

Thousands of metric tonnes of paper bought for printing Indian currency was defective, and the government is currently struggling to calculate the pecuniary loss as well as the security implications of the quality breach.

The scam came to light last year when De La Rue, the British firm which has been supplying India bank note paper for Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations since 2005, admitted in trading statements that some of their paper "failed to meet certain quality specifications".

Shortly afterwards, the Reserve Bank of India received a letter from De La Rue, dated October 22, 2010, that "internal investigations" had confirmed that supplies to India were "out of specification" and it was not possible to establish the extent to which "historic supplies" had been affected.

By the time the company admitted to their paper failing on four of the 31 security parameters, during testing both in their UK laboratory as well as in Hoshangabad, 1,370 metric tonnes of watermarked paper had already been stockpiled at different printing presses.

Source: Indian Express

[brokencompass]

Isn't this a breach of contract? I am surprised they just lost the contract and didn't get sued for the loss of security in the soverign currency issues of a nation!!

[Coinsforever]

De La Rue had been long time supplier of currency notes, revenue  & postage material since pre independence of India.

Many Indian princely states were ordering delarue to print postage stamps & later on currency notes until post Independence.


Clientele list of banks which delarue are serving is quite long & impressive .

Cheers

[Bimat]

Staff falsified certificates, admits UK notes supplier

Ritu Sarin
Posted: Wed Sep 21 2011, 03:36 hrs
New Delhi:

Despite repeated requests from the government, De La Rue, the British currency paper manufacturer, has claimed "privilege" in the matter of its internal investigation report on how the watermarked paper supplied to India failed quality parameters.

The company subsequently sent only a summary report (dated October 21, 2010) called "India paper". That report, available with The Indian Express, reveals some startling facts. One, that the board of De La Rue had established that some of their employees had "falsified test certificates" of currency paper manufactured for the Reserve Bank of India and, two, that the matter was serious enough for the company to have reported it to British law- enforcement agencies. They clarified, however, that they were confident none of their employees received any "direct pecuniary or non-pecuniary benefits".

De La Rue's probe was conducted by a special investigation team in which external legal advisers were given unrestricted access to employees, files and computers. They tested the July 2010 consignment which was not shipped to India as well as currency paper held in stock by BRBNMPL (Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited).

Source: Indian Express

[Bimat]

UK-based co denied security nod to supply currency paper

Press Trust of India / New Delhi December 20, 2011, 18:20 IST

UK-based De La Rue has been denied security clearance to provide paper for printing of Indian currency notes as its supply last year failed to meet some of the required specifications.

De La Rue had contracts with Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd for supply of bank note paper to India, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

However, during July-August 2010, it came to the notice of the authorities that the paper being supplied by the British currency paper maker was "not conforming" to some of the prescribed specifications.
"Accordingly, the supply of the paper was suspended. The deficiency in the paper was subsequently admitted by De La Rue also. Meanwhile, the security clearance was denied to De La Rue and thus the supplies were not resumed," Meena said.

The minister further said that as on date, no paper is lying in godowns in India for transportation to currency printing presses.

"In the absence of security clearance to De La Rue, the supplies cannot be resumed and stocks cannot be used," Meena added.

Meena also said Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran has also informed that the contract with the UK company can be terminated relying on fact that the paper supplied by it was not strictly as per the contract specifications.

Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran, a wholly owned subsidiary of RBI, was set up in 1995 with a view to augment the production of bank notes in India to enable the central bank to bridge the gap between the supply and demand for currency notes.

Source: Business Standard

[Ukrainii Pyat]

One does wonder how long it will be before an Indian company will step up to the plate and take on the paper supply contract, then turn around later on and buy out De La Rue.  Never underestimate the determination and innovation in that part of the world.

[Sicador]

Portuguese India banknotes were mentioning Thomas de la rue on their banknotes I guess..