The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union
and Canada, on Saturday, agreed to remove “selected” Russian banks from the
SWIFT international payment system.
The countries also committed to blocking the Russian central
bank from using its international reserves and preventing wealthy Russians from
buying “golden passports” in other nations to reenter the global financial
system.
The measures were announced jointly in a statement as part
of a new round of financial sanctions meant to punish Russia for its military
invasion of Ukraine.
They stated that the new sanctions would be implemented
“within the coming days”.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication (SWIFT) is an independent enterprise based in Belgium that
serves as an internal messaging system between more than 11,000 banks and
financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories.
The exclusion from SWIFT means Russian banks will not be
able to communicate securely with banks beyond its borders.
“We, the leaders of the European Commission, France,
Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States condemn
Putin’s war of choice and attacks on the sovereign nation and people of
Ukraine,” the statement reads.
“As Russian forces
unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to
continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the
international financial system and our economies. We will implement these
measures within the coming days.
“Specifically, we commit to undertake the following
measures: First, we commit to ensuring that selected Russian banks are removed
from the SWIFT messaging system. This will ensure that these banks are
disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to
operate globally.
“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.
“Third, we commit to acting against the people and entities
who facilitate the war in Ukraine and the harmful activities of the Russian
government. Specifically, we commit to taking measures to limit the sale of
citizenship—so called golden passports—that let wealthy Russians connected to
the Russian government become citizens of our countries and gain access to our
financial systems.
“Fourth, we commit to
launching this coming week a transatlantic task force that will ensure the
effective implementation of our financial sanctions by identifying and freezing
the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies that exist within our
jurisdictions.
“As a part of this effort we are committed to employing
sanctions and other financial and enforcement measures on additional Russian
officials and elites close to the Russian government, as well as their
families, and their enablers to identify and freeze the assets they hold in our
jurisdictions.
“We will also engage other governments and work to detect
and disrupt the movement of ill-gotten gains, and to deny these individuals the
ability to hide their assets in jurisdictions across the world.
“Finally, we will step up our coordination against
disinformation and other forms of hybrid warfare.
“We stand with the Ukrainian people in this dark hour. Even
beyond the measures we are announcing today, we are prepared to take further
measures to hold Russia to account for its attack on Ukraine.”
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