U.S., UK, Europe, Canada to block Russian access to SWIFT

NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The United States, Britain, Europe and Canada on Saturday moved to block Russia’s access to the SWIFT international payment system as part of another round of sanctions against Moscow as it continues its assault against Ukraine.

SWIFT is the world’s main international payments network.

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Here is a primer about what SWIFT does and why it matters: read more

Here are some comments from market analysts and banks:

HARRY BROADMAN, CHAIR OF EMERGING MARKETS PRACTICE, BERKELEY RESEARCH GROUP, WASHINGTON, D.C.

“Sanctions have lots of foibles as we know from history. The more comprehensive they can be, the more they cover, the more you raise the probability of effectiveness. But in this case it is hard to understand what drives Putin’s decision-making process. The more sanctions we get and the broader the coalition of people putting them in place, the probability of success goes higher. But there’s no formula.”

FORMER RUSSIAN DEPUTY CENTRAL BANK CHAIRMAN…