Bank of Russia launches analogue of SWIFT system
In December, the Bank of Russia offered a
new service to credit institutions for the transfer of financial
messages in SWIFT format for domestic operations. Banks can be connected
to the service on the basis of their agreements with the Bank of
Russia.
"The new service has been implemented in
order to ensure smooth and safe transfer of financial messaging inside
the country. The service is another step in the direction of improving
the system of services provided by the Bank of Russia," a message from
the Central Bank of the Russian Federation said.
The new service will enable credit
institutions to transmit messages in SWIFT format via the Bank of Russia
in all regions of the country without restrictions. The Central Bank
intends to protect Russian banks from possible problems should the West
decides to disconnect Russia from the system of international payments
SWIFT.
In September, the EU called for new
restrictive measures against Russia. In particular, some European
officials said that Russia should be disconnected from SWIFT. However,
representatives of the company SWIFT have repeatedly stated that they
had no intention to cut Russia from the service.