MNI: Select Russian Banks Barred From SWIFT By U.S. And Allies

Select Russian banks will be removed from the SWIFT banking transaction system, the White House said on on 26 February in a joint statement with allies, to "harm their ability to operate globally” because of Moscow’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine as part of a new series of tough measures that include curbs on Russia's central bank.

Earlier sanctions by the U.S. and allies placed on Russia included freezing the assets of certain individuals and some transactions. but avoided curbs on oil and gas exports and stricter financial measures.

“Second, we commit to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions,” the statement, issued jointly with the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada, said.

For the Russian central bank, this could mean an inability to use its roughly USD630 billion in currency reserves to defend the rouble.

The industry group Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) includes 11,000 banks globally and is the main clearing system for financial transactions. Other countries under sanctions, notably Iran and Venezuela, have been banned from SWIFT in the past.

The specific banks were not named in the White House statement but will be listed by the U.S. Treasury ahead.

“We will go institution by institution in terms of those who will be removed from the network, and we will pick those very carefully to maximise the impact on Russia and minimise spillover to Europe and the global economy,” a White House spokesman told reporters, according to news agencies.

The statement also outlined action to limit the sale of so-called golden passports to wealthy Russians connected to the government, and a trans-Atlantic task force on enforcement of the sanctions.