There is plenty of speculation about kicking Russia from SWIFT.
What is it?
In a nutshell:
- Swift provides a network that enables financial institutions worldwide to send and receive information about financial transactions "in a secure, standardized and reliable environment."
I posted on the removal of NK back in 2017, reported by Dow Jones media:
- The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) banned North Korean banks
- United Nations investigators found evidence banks had continued to use Swift's services despite being on U.N. sanctions lists
- Seven blacklisted North Korean banks continued to use the Swift network in recent years
- Four of the banks voluntarily exited
- Three continued to be active on Swift throughout 2016
- It wasn't clear how the three banks kept using Swift despite being blacklisted, though the Journal does say North Korea had continued to access Swift either overtly or through front companies in China, Southeast Asia and Africa, the U.N. said in its report
Removing Russia is, of course, a much bigger deal than booting out the crackpot in NK.
