SWIFT Rejects Pressure to Block Russia, Israel From Its Network

The SWIFT banking transaction system rejected “individual calls and pressure” to block institutions and countries from its network, saying only governments can make sanctions decisions.

“SWIFT and its stakeholders have received calls to disconnect institutions and entire countries from its network -– most recently Israel and Russia,” the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication said today in a statement on its website. “SWIFT will not make unilateral decisions to disconnect institutions from its network as a result of political pressure,” according to the statement.