EU Weighs Imposing Sanctions on Banks Using Russia’s SWIFT Alternative
(MENAFN) The European Union is considering targeting foreign banks that utilize Russia’s domestic alternative to the SWIFT interbank messaging system, according to a report by media. This move is part of the bloc’s efforts to clamp down on nations assisting Moscow in evading existing sanctions.
Since many Russian financial institutions were cut off from SWIFT in 2022, Moscow has been pushing its own System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) as a secure substitute for transferring financial data both domestically and internationally.
The proposal, led by France and Germany, forms a key element of the EU’s 19th sanctions package against Russia, with Paris and Berlin emphasizing the need to disrupt what they describe as the “deeper structures” of Russia’s financial and logistics networks, media reported on Tuesday.
The SPFS platform has become an essential channel for Russian and foreign banks to sustain trade despite Western attempts to isolate Moscow. In June 2024, Brussels prohibited EU banks outside Russia from accessing or transacting via SPFS, threatening violators with exclusion from European financial systems.
According to Russia’s central bank, by early 2025, 177 foreign entities across 24 countries were connected to SPFS. To further sidestep SWIFT, Russia has intensified trade settlements in national currencies, a trend bolstered by BRICS members moving away from the dollar and euro.
Moscow consistently denounces Western sanctions as unlawful and ineffective, arguing they have not succeeded in destabilizing Russia’s economy or cutting its connections to the global financial system. Rather, Russia claims the sanctions have ultimately backfired on the countries that implemented them.
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