The impact of throwing Russia out of Swift

[Celerity]

The messaging network has become the embodiment of the “weaponisation of finance”

https://www.ft.com/content/7a6613c7-f2f0-4111-aaca-88867c9b8a0a



Vladimir Putin’s declaration of war on Ukraine has revived calls to kick Russia out of Swift. The measure is seen as among the most severe that the US, EU and UK could take.

Denying Russian banks access to Swift is far from a given. It would, for instance, undermine Europe’s capacity to pay for Russian oil and gas, perhaps raising energy prices in the process. Imposing a ban would also require strong consensus. At present, it’s only the UK that really wants it and some EU members remain set against it.

As we on FT Alphaville are not geopolitical experts, we really can’t tell you what the final call will be.

But we do know a little about the plumbing that lies behind international payments. And given the pace of change seen over the past week, we thought it worth trying to explain now why getting booted out would be so painful to Moscow.

So, what is Swift?...............

snip

[PortTack]

1. EU and US agree to kick Russia out of SWIFT

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216406240

[Celerity]

3. that is why I posted this (as it goes into detail as to what would/will happen)

[BlueIdaho]

2. The decision has been made.

The EU will remove Russia’s Central bank along with selected other banks from SWIFT. Along with that they will stop oligarchs from purchasing “golden passports” that allow them to act as citizens of other countries when it comes to financial transactions.

Info from BBC News.

[Hortensis]

4. Boy, European nations went from reluctant about SWIFT to action

at what tfg might call "warp speed" but wouldn't.