De La Rue became aware of the matter after allegations were made in a US Federal Court on 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.

The shares later rallied to rise 7% to 242.5p, well short of the 266.3p 20-week high they had hit earlier in the week following news that the group would lead a consortium of printers to produce the new banknotes for Iraq (PrintWeek, 10 June).

In a statement, De La Rue said the individual implicated in the price-fixing allegation had 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 has been advised that penalties could range from 20% of its 3.1m ($5m) turnover for Visa holograms in 1997 up to 6.1m.

Story by Rachel Barnes