"Disconnecting Russia from SWIFT to hit global financial system"

Disconnecting Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) international banking network would hit the global financial system in the first place, head of the State Duma’s Committee for Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov said.

According to him, the current anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective and primarily political, forming a negative atmosphere in Russia-U.S. relations.

"In economic terms, the Russia-U.S. trade turnover is growing at a rate of more than 20% - economic interests outweigh the political negativity," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.

Therefore, Aksakov believes, disconnecting Russia from SWIFT would cause a much greater effect. However, such a measure would hit the entire global financial system, not Russia.

The deputy reminded that financial transactions for supplies of gas and other goods from Russia are sent through SWIFT. “Obviously, such a decision would have hit Europe and SWIFT itself,” Anatoly Aksakov said.

The advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house, economist Sergey Hestanov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the United States does not have a direct opportunity to disconnect Russia from SWIFT. "The SWIFT system exists in the form of a cooperative in Belgium. At the same time, as we know, the U.S. pressure was enough to disconnect Iran from SWIFT. But it is important to note that such a decision is extremely unlikely in the foreseeable future," he stressed.

"The fact is that disconnecting Russia from SWIFT creates very big inconveniences, first of all, for large American corporations that have subsidiaries in Russia. In addition, Russia created two domestic SWIFT analogs, one was implemented by the Central Bank, the other by a commercial company. Most likely, this opportunity will be just discussed in order to create pressure," Sergey Khestanov said.

Financial operations between Russia and the world will continue even without SWIFT, the economist pointed out. “On the one hand, payments will not be as fast as we are used to. On the other hand, it is important to understand that SWIFT is a rather young system, and the counties traded with each other before it was created,” he said.

 "At the same time, disconnecting Russia from SWIFT should be treated as a theoretical threat. The lobby of American companies, widely represented in Russia, will not allow this to be done," the advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house concluded.