What is SWIFT and why it's being called the 'nuclear' option for Russian sanctions

ABC News ^ | Feb 26, 2022 | Meredith Deliso

[upchuck]

NOTE: See video embedded in article.

As Western allies levy increasingly harsher economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the latest target involves Russia's access to SWIFT.

An acronym for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, SWIFT is a messaging system founded in 1973 that allows large financial institutions to send money to each other.

The Belgian-based cooperative is used by more than 11,000 banks and financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories, including Russia. It handles 42 million messages a day, facilitating trillions of dollars worth of transactions. Russia accounted for 1.5% of SWIFT transactions in 2020, according to the Financial Times.

The White House announced Saturday evening that the U.S. will be disconnecting some Russian banks from SWIFT in partnership with the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada and are "imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions."

"This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally," the White House said in a statement.

[NorseViking]

FYI, Browder is not American. He renounced his citizenship for the purpose of tax evasion.

[aquila48]

“It’s not the size of the economy that is getting kicked out, it is the action of SWIFT deciding to boot out a powerful country which will make 80% of the other countries in the world think twice about relying on SWIFT.”

Most other countries want to kick Putin out of SWIFT. In fact, the initial impetus for this came from Europe.

[WMarshal]

"Most other countries want to kick Putin out of SWIFT. In fact, the initial impetus for this came from Europe."

With the exception of China, Russia, and quite a few others who have been busy building alternatives. Try to remember that SWIFT is just software and a partially dedicated network. With the rise of the Internet the barriers to entry to create a new system are fairly low and there are already alternatives to SWIFT and more coming on the way.

Mark my words, SWIFT will lose its dominant position over this as nation states work to ensure their independence and autonomy.

[WMarshal]

"Won’t destroy Russia, they don’t have the debt that we do and they have workarounds. Closer to simple suicide. But then again, perhaps this is what’s meant by The Great Reset.

More accurate terms would be "The Great Suicide" or "The Great Enslavement."

[WMarshal]

"FYI, Browder is not American. He renounced his citizenship for the purpose of tax evasion."

What a statist, totalitarian attitude. Voting with your feet is not tax evasion - it is freedom.

Do you believe that citizens are owned by their countries and cannot leave because they are slaves?

[aquila48]

“With the exception of China, Russia, and quite a few others who have been busy building alternatives. Try to remember that SWIFT is just software and a partially dedicated network.”

True, but it’s not easy to dislodge an entranched dominant system.

Look at Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, etc. A lot of people (especially conservatives) have been trying to upend them with little success.

This action won’t sway any other country other than the ones you mention from using SWIFT. And even Russia will continue using it as long as they can.

[Rockingham]

Browder is now a British citizen and relinquished his American passport. Americans with outstanding tax debts are not permitted to drop American citizenship. For what its worth, I have a cousin who took out Irish citizenship based on our Irish grandparents in order to gain French residency and pursue a highly specialized degree. Yet, like Browder, although she and her husband travel on an EU passport, they remain American in appearance, accent, and manner.