West Moves SWIFT(LY) Against Russia; What Is SWIFT?

New Delhi: Russian banks will be expelled from SWIFT, the US, European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, UK and Canada have announced.

“This will ensure that these (Russian) banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally,” they wrote in a joint statement released by the White House.

What is SWIFT?

* SWIFT is a high-security network that connects thousands of financial institutions around the world.

* The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, was founded in 1973.

* The Belgium-based firm is a cooperative of banks. Financial institutions use its messaging system to communicate rapidly, securely and inexpensively.

* More than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries use SWIFT.

* Nearly 300 Russian financial institutions are part of the system.

* In 2019, SWIFT suspended access to certain Iranian banks.

* The West threatened to exclude Russia from SWIFT in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.