The European Union Excludes 7 Russian Banks From SWIFT

The European Union has removed seven Russian banks from the Swift messaging system that supports global transactions as part of its sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the Official Gazette of the European Union said on Wednesday.

The banks, which will be given 10 days to phase out their SWIFT operations, are VTB, Russia’s second-largest, along with Okrit, Novikum, Promsvyaz, Bank of Russia, Sofcom, and VEB.

A senior EU official said the banks on his list were chosen based on their links to the Russian state, where public banks are already subject to sanctions following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.