Russia Will Not Release Names of Banks Linked to its SWIFT Alternative

Russian central bank to keep members of its alternative to the SWIFT financial messaging service secret, according to Governor Elvira Nabiullina.

Nabiullina told in the parliament that along with Russian banks, 52 institutions from 12 countries are participating in its System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), an alternative of Russia to SWIFT.

U.S. and European sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have cut several major banks off from SWIFT. But Nabiullina told parliament Monday that . Until recently, the list was posted on the central bank’s website.

“Under the current circumstances we decided not to disclose on the website the list of companies connected to the system,” the press service said. “The users of the system can still see the list.”

The site was setup in 2014 after Russian was hit with first set of sanctions over Ukraine. According to Interfax and as reported by Bloomberg, Nabiullina told legislators Tuesday that the central bank will continue its push to add new members.

“Until there was such a threat of being cut off from SWIFT, foreign partners weren’t in much of a rush to join, but now we expect their readiness to be greater,” she said.

The central bank also noted it will no longer publish quarterly data on the schedule for repayments of foreign debt.

Related Posts