Europe's banks fear payment system could be casualty of Russia-Ukraine crisis
Removing Russia from SWIFT would have major implications for international trade and capital markets, experts sayFrankfurt — Italy’s UniCredit has backed out of a potential acquisition in Russia and Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International has set aside risk provisions for possible sanctions on Moscow as fears mount that Russia will invade Ukraine.
RBI said its exposure was manageable, while ING said it was well prepared. Societe Generale said it was monitoring developments and confident about its Russia business. UniCredit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to widening the circle of Russian financial institutions that would be affected, measures are most likely to include efforts to keep Russia’s energy sector from expanding, as well as blacklisting people and companies allied to President Vladimir Putin, according to Paul Feldberg, partner in the investigations, compliance and defence group at Jenner & Block.
Heinrich Steinhauer, who represents the German lender Helaba in Moscow, said such a move would be tantamount to a giant debt forgiveness programme by prohibiting payments, describing it as a “sort of atomic bomb”. “For many this would be a catastrophe. For many in the EU and Russia, and less so for the US because economic ties are fewer,” he said.
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