Credit institutions that have fallen under the new sanctions of the West are suspending foreign exchange transfers. Restrictions on such operations have already been introduced in the banks “St. Petersburg”, “Uralsib”, “Primorye”, “Levoberezhny”, in Lanta-Bank and Rosbank, their representatives said. In the coming days, financial organizations that have fallen under EU restrictions will most likely be completely disconnected from SWIFT, since the system is under the jurisdiction of the European Union, experts say. However, according to them, the new measures will not have a critical impact, on the contrary, they give a reason to accelerate the creation of an independent payment system. Meanwhile, due to the latest sanctions, there may be difficulties with the work of some UnionPay cards abroad. Also, Tinkoff Investments clients should be transferred to a non-sanctioned company.
Russian credit institutions included in the tenth package of EU sanctions and new US lists restrict SWIFT transfers. Reception and sending of such payments in all directions until further clarifications from foreign correspondent banks were suspended at Livoberezhny Bank. They are studying the possibility of conducting operations in friendly currencies, Izvestia was told in the press service of the financial organization.
Against the backdrop of new restrictions from the United States, they also temporarily completely stopped sending SWIFT transfers at the Saint Petersburg Bank, the support service reported.
Uralsib has stopped making transfers in nine monetary units, including dollars, Japanese yen and Swiss francs, the bank said. They also recommended not to send payments to Russia in these currencies. Back in the summer, the credit institution limited SWIFT transfers in euros.
Against the backdrop of the introduction of new sanctions, Rosbank has suspended operations in dollars and euros, as it cannot yet guarantee that customer funds will not be blocked by foreign correspondent banks. The credit institution is studying the parameters of operations in friendly currencies using the Central Bank’s financial messaging system (SPFS) and alternative channels, the organization’s press service noted. However, the support service of Rosbank added: transfers in Chinese yuan, Belarusian rubles and a number of other monetary units are now available.
Similar restrictions on outgoing transfers in euros were introduced at Lanta Bank. At the same time, payments in other currencies are available to customers, including yuan, Turkish lira and Kazakh tenge, the press service of the financial organization said.
The acceptance of SWIFT payments was also completely suspended in Primorye Bank. And Zenit recommended that customers not make currency transfers because of the risk of blocking funds on correspondent accounts of foreign players. This financial organization reported in the Telegram channels.
In response to a request from Izvestia, SWIFT referred to the organization’s latest message. It states that the company will fully comply with sanctions laws. So, from March 1, 2022, the system turned off seven Russian financial organizations, and on March 9, three Belarusian ones.
The tenth package of EU sanctions included Tinkoff, Alfa and Rosbank, it became known on February 26. Earlier, on February 24, 11 Russian banks fell under new restrictions from the United States – MCB, UBRD, Uralsib, MTS Bank, Zenit, Bank St. Petersburg, Lanta Bank, Metallinvestbank, Primorye, SDM-Bank and “Left Bank”. Izvestia sent a request to these credit organizations.
Sanction risks
After the imposition of sanctions by the EU, Tinkoff Investments suspended trading in foreign shares and the operation of investment piggy banks in dollars and euros. Within one to three weeks, the company plans to transfer customers to a new non-sanctioned organization. After that, all familiar tools will be available again. At the same time, the securities will not be blocked, and the tax deduction for IIS should be preserved, Tinkoff Investments said in a statement. Izvestia sent a request to the organization.
Banks subject to US blocking sanctions also warned customers of possible difficulties with the operation of their UnionPay cards abroad. Credit institutions recommended that cardholders abroad withdraw cash. Among such players are Zenit, St. Petersburg, Primorye, MTS-Bank and Uralsib.
Credit institutions included in the list of EU sanctions will soon be completely disconnected from the SWIFT system, experts agreed. Most likely this will happen in the next few days, Alexey Tarapovsky, the founder of Anderida Financial Group, estimated. He explained that the operator making such transactions is a European company, so the shutdown will occur immediately after changes are made to the regulations. However, the introduction of such restrictions will help accelerate the creation of an independent payment system as an analogue of the European one, the expert believes.
Problems with the use of SWIFT may also arise for Russian banks that are not included in the EU sanctions lists, said Valery Piven, Senior Director, Head of the Financial Institutions Ratings Group at ACRA. Organizations outside US jurisdiction often operate under the most stringent restrictions, he said. Therefore, banks subject to blocking US sanctions may also face difficulties with SWIFT transfers.
Credit institutions from the blocking list are actually deprived of the opportunity to make transfers in unfriendly currencies, primarily in dollars, said Igor Dodonov, an analyst at FG Finam. Otherwise, there is a risk that clients’ money will “hang” for an indefinite period. At the same time, it is possible that there will be difficulties with payments in friendly currencies, since banks from third countries may be afraid of imposing secondary sanctions, the expert emphasized.
Of the systemically important Russian banks, only Raiffeisenbank and Unicredit have not yet been sanctioned. The first said that from March 6, he doubled the amount of minimum money transfers in foreign currency from $5,000 to $10,000.
