Pindostan is using SWIFT as a kind of ‘billy club’ in its foreign policy
RT.com, Jul 2 2019
Trump at a Made in Pindostan product showcase with Pence (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters)
Multiple countries across the world are seeking to wean themselves off the Pindo dollar as a “matter of self-defense,” according to Mike Maharrey from the Tenth Amendment Center. Their success in doing so will have a very negative effect on the Pindo economy, he told RT. To cut their use of the dollar, countries will have to avoid using SWIFT, the world’s largest payment system, which is used by 11,000 financial institutions in 200 countries, and is heavily reliant on the greenback. Maharrey, the national communications director at the Tenth Amendment Center social movement, explained:
While SWIFT claims to be politically neutral, it’s very obvious that it is being used by Pindostan and the other Western powers as a kind of a billy club, as an instrument of foreign policy. SWIFT has repeatedly blocked access to Russian and Chinese banks, due to Pindo sanctions. SWIFT is about as politically neutral as the Pindo Federal Reserve, which claims to be politically neutral as well, but anything that is connected with the Pindo government is inherently political, whether it be a central bank or a payment system or the IMF. Pindostan’s interventionist foreign policy is enabled by its central bank’s printing money out of thin air. All of these things are political. As a natural reflex, Moscow and Beijing have adopted various policies for the protection of their national economies. We know that Russia has created its own internal payment system, which has become very popular within the country. And we are also seeing central banks purchasing gold, which is internationally stable real money, as opposed to fiat money created by all of these central banks.
Foreign banks willing to join Russia’s alternative to SWIFT
RT.com, Jun 15 2019
Banks based in several states are planning to participate in the Russian-developed money transfer network that serves as an alternative to the SWIFT system, according to the head of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). Elvira Nabiullina said at the first EU-Russia Student Conference in Moscow on Saturday:
It is open for external connection, we are developing it for our trade partners if they want to join. This work is already ongoing and banks of several countries are going to join, test connections already exist. We think it will be developing.
Moscow started working on its own payment service, which is dubbed the SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages), amid threats that it could be disconnected from the internationally recognized SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system back in 2014. The CBR governor said the Russian alternative network operates the same standards as SWIFT. It’s convenient for those joining it as they do not have to change their internal mechanisms. Moreover, not just banks but also large businesses can join directly and some have already done so, she added. Meanwhile, the SPFS is being already used in Russia, where 18% of money transfers are going through it. Banks can therefore choose what system they want to use and “quickly switch” in case of any risks, according to Nabiullina. Earlier this year, Russia’s central bank announced that the country’s alternative to SWIFT had made “significant progress” as it already complies with international standards and foreign players can be integrated in it. In April, the regulator said it had signed agreements with two non-residents and was holding talks with five more. Joining the network allows foreign players to bypass Western sanctions, enabling them to cooperate with Russian companies hit by the restrictions. Domestically, some 500 participants, including major Russian financial institutions and companies, have already joined the SPFS network.
Niqnaq 