“Today’s decision to disconnect key Russian banks from the SWIFT network will send yet another very clear signal to Putin and the Kremlin,” the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday.
SWIFT is the world’s dominant financial messaging system. The exclusion of certain Russian banks will mean these banks will be banned from conducting their financial transactions worldwide in a fast and efficient manner.
In a separate statement, SWIFT said: “Diplomatic decisions have brought SWIFT into efforts to bring this crisis to an end, and we will always comply with applicable sanctions laws.
“We are engaging with these authorities to understand which entities will be subject to these new measures and will disconnect them once we receive legal instruction to do so.”
According to the European Commission’s official journal published on 2 March, the banks in question include Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), and VTB Bank.
“The banks targeted by today’s measure were chosen as these banks are already subject to sanctions by the EU and other G7 countries,” the Commission said.
The order is set to take effect as of 12 March 2022, giving SWIFT and other operators a brief transition period to implement the measure.
“Depending on Russia’s behaviour, the Commission is prepared to add further Russian banks at short notice.”
Maja Garaca Djurdjevic
Maja's career in journalism spans well over a decade across finance, business and politics. Now an experienced editor and reporter across all elements of the financial services sector, prior to joining Momentum Media, Maja reported for several established news outlets in Southeast Europe, scrutinising key processes in post-conflict societies.
