De La Rue became aware of the matter after allegations were made in a US Federal Court on Tuesday (8 July). It was claimed that it engaged in an illegal price-fixing scheme in relation to the supply of holograms for Visa Banking cards in 1997, violating US anti-trust laws.

In a statement, De La Rue said the individual implicated in the allegation left the business in October 1999. However, it will co-operate fully with the authorities and conduct its own investigation with urgency.

The security printer, which announced this week that it would lead a consortium of printers to produce the new banknotes for Iraq (PrintWeek, 10 June), has been advised that penalties could range from 20% of its 3.1m ($5m) turnover for Visa holograms in 1997 up to 6.1m.