VELSHI: There’s a case for the harshest sanctions against Russia – but also consequences

The SWIFT financial banking system is the most critical apparatus in the financial world. It stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications and it’s a messaging system that links more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories. And it’s the reason why transferring money overseas has become so easy. Very few countries are not on the SWIFT system – and the ones that aren’t are isolated and poor. Without another system in place - and there are virtually none - it would mean economic calamity for a country to be removed from SWIFT. There would be no effective means for trade outside of its borders. There are calls to expel Russia entirely from SWIFT and the U.S., Canada and E.U. allies have already announced the expulsion of ‘selected Russian banks.’ But fully kicking Russia out of the SWIFT system would be the harshest possible financial punishment – short of an actual embargo - and an unprecedented move against one of the world’s largest economies. It would damage Moscow’s economy immediately and in the long run. Alienating Russia from SWIFT is considered a nuclear option – one that is being considered -- but there’s no turning back after pressing that button. The explosion would destroy Russia’s economy, something that some see as a just punishment for invading the same sovereign country twice in eight years. But the economic mushroom cloud spread to other nations around the globe as well.Feb. 27, 2022