SWIFT, the international financial messaging system, has responded to the U.S. sanctions threat (see this post)—it has agreed to comply. Michael Peel reports in the FT, that SWIFT suspends certain Iranian banks’ access to its cross border-payment network. According to Peel, SWIFT explains the step as follows: “This step, while regrettable, has been taken in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system.” This does not only expose SWIFT to punitive actions by the European Union since … new EU rules … forbid companies from complying with the US Iran sanctions. It also seems to contradict the explanations that SWIFT provides on its homepage: [w]hilst sanctions are imposed independently in different jurisdictions around the world, SWIFT cannot arbitrarily
Topics:
Dirk Niepelt considers the following as important: Iran, Notes, Sanction, SWIFT, United States
This could be interesting, too:
Dirk Niepelt writes SNB Annual Report
Dirk Niepelt writes Banks and Privacy, U.S. vs Canada
Dirk Niepelt writes Bank of England CBDC Academic Advisory Group
Dirk Niepelt writes Panel on “Will the digital euro take off?,” CEPR, 2023
SWIFT, the international financial messaging system, has responded to the U.S. sanctions threat (see this post)—it has agreed to comply. Michael Peel reports in the FT, that SWIFT
suspends certain Iranian banks’ access to its cross border-payment network.
According to Peel, SWIFT explains the step as follows:
“This step, while regrettable, has been taken in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system.”
This does not only expose SWIFT to punitive actions by the European Union since
… new EU rules … forbid companies from complying with the US Iran sanctions.
It also seems to contradict the explanations that SWIFT provides on its homepage:
[w]hilst sanctions are imposed independently in different jurisdictions around the world, SWIFT cannot arbitrarily choose which jurisdiction’s sanction regime to follow. Being incorporated under Belgian law it must instead comply with related EU regulation, as confirmed by the Belgian government.