SWIFT has blocked some Russian banks from its international payments system in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The move comes after financial sanctions imposed by the west, including blocking Russia's central bank from international operations.
The European Commission released a statement on 26 February, outlining: “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.
It adds: “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.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said in a separate statement: “We have taken decisive action with our international partners to shut Russia out of the global financial system, including the important first step of ejecting Russian banks from SWIFT.”
Today (1 March) the Bank of Russia has decided not to resume trading sessions on MOEX equity, derivatives, and standardised over-the-counter derivative markets.
This follows the Bank of Russia’s imposed ban on short selling that came into effect last week on Thursday 24 February. This ban is open-ended and will continue until further instructions are received from the central bank.
In a statement, the Bank of Russia says: “Given the current situation in the financial market and to protect the rights and legitimate interests of investors in financial markets, mitigate risks and curb excessive volatility, the Bank of Russia has instructed brokers to suspend short sales in the exchange until the said instruction is cancelled.”
