Russia prohibits SWIFT

The Bank of Russia has forbidden Russian financial institutions to use the SWIFT messaging system for transactions inside the country, starting from October. This will ensure reliability, continuity and security of data exchange when conducting intra-Russian transactions. Information on such transactions will now need to be transmitted through the Bank of Russia's own banking systems, services of third-party Russian companies, or through the Bank's own financial messaging system, SPFS. SPFS was created by the regulator in 2018 as a substitute for SWIFT on the domestic market. In February, the Russian Central Bank announced that SPFS now has 469 participants, including 115 foreign entities from 14 nations.