US, EU, And UK Cut Russia From SWIFT Bank System

NBC News reports:

The United States and its allies announced Saturday an agreement to take aim at Russia through SWIFT, a service that facilitates global transactions among thousands of financial institutions.

“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,” the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, said in a joint statement.

The Associated Press reports:

In Brussels, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said cutting several commercial banks from SWIFT “will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.” She said more banks could be hit “as appropriate.”

Von der Leyen said the EU would “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.”

.@ZelenskyyUa says Ukraine has gotten Europe to agree to cut Russia off from SWIFT. “This is an important victory. It means billions & billions in losses for Russia. That’s the cost of its backstabbing invasion.”
(Germany reportedly supports a “targeted” partial SWIFT cutoff) pic.twitter.com/o9pAVr3OPC

— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 26, 2022

European Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen announces EU & US have agreed to “crippling” measures against Russia:
• Begin to remove Russian banks from the SWIFT banking system
• Freeze Russia’s central bank assets
• Prohibit Rusisan oligarchs from trading on Western markets pic.twitter.com/yFJzbvucj5

— The Recount (@therecount) February 26, 2022