508 BRICS Bank to rival World Bank & IMF; will facilitate Trade in local Currencies

BRICS Bank to rival World Bank & IMF; will facilitate Trade in local
Currencies

(1) BRICS leaders lambast the West's "aggressive monetary policies" &
dominance of global institutions
(2) BRICS "South-South" development bank an alternative to World Bank.
(3) BRICS bank will facilitate Trade in local Currencies (bypassing $)
(4) BRICs Bank To Rival World Bank and IMF and Challenge Dollar Dominance
(5) BRICS bank could struggle to match the World Bank's expertise -
Robert Zoellick
(6) BRICS flay West over IMF reform, monetary policy
(7) Brics nations threaten IMF funding - Financial Times
(8) Loose Brics - FT.com editorial
(9) BRICS bank will bypass SWIFT...Jewry's Weapon of Mass Destruction -
Brother Nathanael
(10) SWIFT inter-bank network ... Iranian banks have been disconnected

Photo of the BRICS leaders (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)
at the Delhi conference:
http://dzswc0o8s13dx.cloudfront.net/goldcore_bloomberg_chart3_02-04-12.png

(1) BRICS leaders lambast the West's "aggressive monetary policies" &
dominance of global institutions
http://tv.ibtimes.com/brics-nations-talk-tough-to-west-start-rival-development-bank/4504.html

BRICS Nations Talk Tough To West, Start Rival Development Bank

Marisa Krystian | Mar 29, 2012 4:49pm EDT | 1min:43sec

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, meeting in
New Delhi on Thursday, drafted a joint statement lambasting the West's
"aggressive monetary policies" and dominance of global institutions.

Collectively known as the BRICS, the heads of the world's five largest
emerging economies also took steps at the fourth annual summit toward
greater unity and launched a proposal to create a financial institution
that could eventually rival the World Bank. ...

(2) BRICS "South-South" development bank an alternative to World Bank.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/03/2012328121225841826.html

BRICS summit to explore creation of bank

Group of five rising powers to discuss creation of "South-South"
development bank in mould of World Bank.

Last Modified: 28 Mar 2012 14:55

The proposal of a development bank is high on the agenda at the summit
of the five BRICS bloc nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa - starting on Thursday in New Delhi.

The proposal for a "South-South" development bank in the mould of the
World Bank is one of the main points to be discussed by the group of
five rising powers at the fourth BRICS summit.

The initiative would allow the countries to pool resources for
infrastructure improvements, and could also be used in the longer term
as a vehicle for lending during global financial crises such as the one
in Europe, officials said.

"What will be discussed (in New Delhi) is the possibility of setting up
a BRICS development bank for infrastructure projects, development, not
only in member countries but also in developing countries," Maria
Edileuza Fonteneles Reis, a senior Brazilian foreign ministry official,
said.

Fernando Pimentel, the Brazilian industry and trade minister, told
reporters in Brasilia last week, "the proposal to set up a BRICS bank,
an international, investment bank of these five countries," is the main
item on the agenda.

He said that the countries would sign a deal at the summit to study the
creation of the bank.

Ambitious project

Sudhir Vyas, a senior Indian foreign ministry official, told reporters
on Monday that the BRICS would have to determine how the bank would be
structured and capitalised. Such an ambitious project would take time,
he said.

"We don't set up a bank every ordinary day," he said.

Pimentel said the proposed bank did not mean "abandoning multilateral
mechanisms" such as the World Bank (WB) and the InterAmerican
Development Bank (IDB) but was a response to today's economic necessities.

The WB and the IDB "have specific functions which they fulfill well,
such as providing financing for low-income countries" but the current
needs go well beyond this, Pimentel said.

A benchmark equity index derivative shared by the stock exchanges of the
five BRICS nations is also to be launched on Friday, the exchanges said
earlier this month.

They would be cross-listed, so can be bought in local currencies.

The leaders are also expected to sign agreements allowing their
individual development banks to extend credit to other members in local
currency, a step towards replacing the dollar as the main unit of trade
between them.

The five members now account for roughly 18 per cent of the world's GDP,
15 per cent of global trade and hold 40 per cent of global currency
reserves. They account for the 40 per cent of the world population.
Source:

Agencies

(3) BRICS bank will facilitate Trade in local Currencies (bypassing $)

http://www.just-international.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5352:brics-summit-2012-member-nations-sign-pacts-to-promote-trade-in-local-currency&catid=45:recent-articles&Itemid=123

BRICS summit 2012: Member nations sign pacts to promote trade in local
currency

Reuters : New Delhi, Thu Mar 29 2012, 14:13 hrs

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mohapatra/929984/

NEW DELHI: In an initiative to promote trade in local currencies, the
BRICS nations today signed two agreements to provide line of credit to
business community and decided to examine the possibility of setting up
a development bank on lines of multilateral lending agencies.

The agreements were signed by officials of five countries -- Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa -- at the fourth BRICS summit here.

"The agreements signed today by development banks of BRICS countries
will boost trade by offering credit in our local currency," Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh said in a media statement after the meeting.

The Master Agreement on Extending Credit Facility in Local Currency and
the Multilateral Letter of Credit Confirmation Facility Agreement are
being perceived as a step towards replacing the dollar as the main unit
of trade between them.

Such intra-BRICS initiatives, according to officials, will not only
contribute to enhanced trade and investments among the nations but would
also facilitate economic growth in difficult economic times.

As regards the initiative to set up a BRICS Development Bank on the
lines of multilateral lending agency, Singh said the proposal would be
examined by the finance ministers.

"A suggestion has been made to set up a BRICS development bank, we have
directed our FM to examine the proposal and report back by next summit,"
Singh said.

The initiative to set up a BRICS Development Bank on the lines of the
World Bank would allow the member countries to pool resources for
infrastructure development and could also be used to lend during the
difficult global environment.

Intra-BRICS trade is about USD 230 billion and has the potential of more
than doubling to USD 500 billion by 2015.

By The Times of India
29 March 2012
@ The Times of India

(4) BRICs Bank To Rival World Bank and IMF and Challenge Dollar Dominance

http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/gold-investments-market-update/2012/04/02/

Mon, Apr 2 2012, 11:29 GMT

by Mark O'Byrne

BRICs Bank To Rival World Bank and IMF and Challenge Dollar Dominance

Outgoing President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, after just three
days ago dismissing the idea of a BRICs created, new global multi
lateral bank, has come around and endorsed a BRICs bank in an interview
with the FT.

Zoellick had initially said that a BRICs bank and potential rival to the
western and U.S. dominated IMF and World Bank, would be difficult to
implement given competing BRIC interests.

He acknowledged that a BRICs bank was being created and said that the
World Bank supported such a bank. He said that not having Russia and
China as part of "the World Bank system" would be a "mistake of historic
proportions".

Leaders of the BRICS nations meeting in India appear to have made much
progress in creating a new global bank as the emerging economies seek to
convert their growing economic might into collective diplomatic influence.

The five countries now account for nearly 28% of the global economy, a
figure that is expected to continue to grow.

On Thursday morning, President Hu Jintao of China, President Dmitry
Medvedev of Russia , President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, President Jacob
Zuma of South Africa and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India shook
hands at the start of the one day meeting in New Delhi.

Top of the agenda was the creation of the grouping's first institution,
a so-called "BRICS Bank" that would fund development projects and
infrastructure in developing nations.

The initiative would allow the countries to pool resources for
infrastructure improvements, and could also be used in the longer term
as a vehicle for lending during global financial crises such as the one
in Europe, officials said.

Less noticed and commented upon is the aspirations of the BRIC nations
to become less dependent on the global reserve currency, the dollar and
to position their own currencies as internationally traded currencies.

The leaders of BRIC nations and other emerging market nations have
adopted the idea of conducting trade between the five nations in their
own currencies. Two agreements, signed among the development banks of
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, say that local currency
loans will be made available for trade between these countries.

The five fast growing nations participating in local currency trade will
allow participants to diversify their foreign exchange reserves, hedging
against the growing risk of a euro or dollar crisis.

The BRICS want to have easy convertibility of currency to make it easier
to use the real, ruble, rupee, renminbi and rand amongst themselves
without having to always use the US dollar. Higher intra-Brics trade,
conducted in their own currencies would shield their economies from
economic dislocations in the west.

In the long run, if global dependence and exposure to the dollar is to
be reduced, then the BRICs currencies will have to trade amongst
themselves, creating an intra Brics currency market. This could lead to
a special reserve BRICs currency that could rival the IMF's Special
Drawing Rights (SDRs) and in time a regional currency could emerge.
However, the EU's experience of a single currency may make this less
likely. ...

(5) BRICS bank could struggle to match the World Bank's expertise -
Robert Zoellick

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/29/us-worldbank-zoellick-brics-idUSBRE82S0JP20120329

BRICS interests differ over joint bank, says Zoellick

By Nita Bhalla

BHITARKANIKA SANCTUARY, India | Thu Mar 29, 2012 7:57am EDT

(Reuters) - A plan to form a joint development bank by the BRICS group
of the world's most powerful emerging economies will have a hard time
getting off the ground and could struggle to match the World Bank's
expertise, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said.

Deflecting criticism that the World Bank is too dominated by the United
States, Zoellick said it had changed dramatically in his term, with a
managing team now made up of many more figures from the emerging world.

Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were meeting
in New Delhi on Thursday to outline plans for a new bank which will help
fund infrastructure and act as alternative lender to the World Bank and
other finance bodies.

Zoellick told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday that there are
already a series of regional development banks and many countries have
their own such banks, but if a BRICS bank was formed, the World Bank
would work closely with it.

"I think the interests of India may be more in terms of bringing capital
in, the interests of China may be more in terms of internationalizing
the Renminbi. I think Russia is a little uncertain and Brazil has a very
big development bank," he said.

"The World Bank works with private sector funders, development banks,
regional banks and we'd work with a BRICS bank, but it would probably be
difficult for it to replicate the knowledge and expertise that we fund."

Zoellick, who was visiting a bank-funded coastal conservation project in
east India's Orissa state, told reporters later that setting up a new
bank was "a complicated venture" which would present challenges such as
getting capital and a good rating from international financial agencies.

The head of the global money lender is ending his five-year term in June
and the job is now one of the most hotly contested, with a U.S.
candidate for the first time being challenged by two contenders from the
developing world.

Under a so-called "gentleman's agreement" between the U.S. and Europe,
Washington has claimed the top post at the World Bank since its founding
after World War Two, while a European has always led the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), its sister Bretton Woods institution.

"TRANSPARENT" CONTEST

There have been calls by BRICS and other developing nations that these
top positions should better reflect the growing power and influence of
emerging economies, which are now responsible for more than half of
global economic growth.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian finance minister and former managing
director of the World Bank under Zoellick, has gained the support of
African leaders, while Brazil has nominated former Colombian finance
minister Jose Antonio Ocampo.

But they face stiff opposition from the U.S.-nominated candidate Jim
Yong Kim, a Korean-American health expert whose name was put forward by
U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday.

Zoellick said all three candidates were "excellent", but added that the
bank's senior leadership was already showing more and more
representation from emerging economies.

"If you take the overall leadership at the bank, with all the different
positions, it is more representative. I appointed the first chief
economist who was from China," he said.

"At one point, the three managing directors that reported to me were all
from the developing world. I think that it's not just a question of the
head of organization, but the organization as a whole."

He said the decision on his successor would be made in April by the
bank's board, which represents its 187 shareholders. The selection
process is transparent and based on merit, he said, dismissing concerns
by BRICS that it was heavily weighted in favor of the U.S. candidate.

The candidates will have to think through where they want to take the
bank, he said, adding that the board of governors, will interview each
of them to understand their plans for the future.

Zoellick who took over the bank in 2007 after serving as the U.S. deputy
secretary of state, said it was good that Americans have a chance to run
global institutions.

"The United States has never had anybody lead the IMF, they've never led
the World Trade Organisation, they've never had anyone be the U.N.
Secretary General, they've never had anybody lead the regional
development banks," he said.

"So personally as an American, who has worked with multilateral
organizations, it's good for Americans to have a chance to run some of
them. Whether it's the World Bank or others, that's a whole different
question."

(Editing by Frank Jack Daniel & Kim Coghill)

(6) BRICS flay West over IMF reform, monetary policy

By Rajesh Kumar Singh

NEW DELHI | Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:14pm EDT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/29/us-india-brics-idUSBRE82S05K20120329

(Reuters) - Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging market nations
pressed Western powers to cede more voting rights at the IMF this year
and flayed the rich world's reflationary monetary policies for putting
global economic stability in jeopardy.

"This dynamic process of reform is necessary to ensure the legitimacy
and effectiveness of the Fund," Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa said in a joint declaration after their one-day summit in New Delhi.

"We stress that the ongoing effort to increase the lending capacity of
the IMF will only be successful if there is confidence that the entire
membership of the institution is truly committed to implement the 2010
Reform faithfully."

Promised changes to voting rights at the IMF have yet to be ratified by
the United States, adding to frustration over reform of the G7 and the
U.N. Security Council, where India and Brazil have been angling for
years for permanent seats.

The BRICS leaders also accused rich countries of destabilizing the world
economy five years into the global financial crisis.

"It is critical for advanced economies to adopt responsible
macroeconomic and financial policies, avoid creating excessive global
liquidity and undertake structural reforms to lift growth that create
jobs," they said in a joint declaration.

The rich world's monetary policy "brings enormous trade advantages to
developed countries, and results in unfair obstacles for other
countries," Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said at the summit.

Security was tight in New Delhi, days after an activist set himself on
fire in protest at Chinese rule in Tibet, dying from his injuries just
hours before China's President Hu Jintao arrived. Police grappled with
small groups of pro-Tibet protesters.

IRAN'S NUCLEAR RIGHTS

The declaration said the crises over Iran's nuclear program should be
resolved diplomatically and should not be allowed to escalate. It also
recognized the right of Iran to pursue peaceful nuclear energy.

"We agreed that lasting solution to the problems in Syria and Iran can
only be found through dialogue," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

The five BRICS nations, which collectively account for nearly half the
world's population and a fifth of its economic output, signed an
agreement to extend credit facilities in their local currencies, a step
aimed at reducing the role of the dollar in trade between them.

They also agreed to examine in greater detail an Indian proposal to set
up a BRICS-led South-South Development Bank, funded and managed by the
BRICS and other developing countries.

"We have directed the finance ministers to examine the proposal and
report back at the next summit," Singh said.

Other moves to bring their economies closer together include the launch
on Friday of benchmark equity index derivatives allowing investors in
one BRICS country to bet on the performance of stock markets in the
other four members without currency risk. The indexes will be
cross-listed on their stock exchanges from Friday.

(Additional reporting by Matthias Williams, Brian Winter and Alexei
Anishchuk; Editing by John Chalmers and Jonathan Thatcher)

(7) Brics nations threaten IMF funding - Financial Times

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a3b88472-7982-11e1-8fad-00144feab49a.html#axzz1r1AdspjE

Brics nations threaten IMF funding

By James Fontanella-Khan in New Delhi

Last updated: March 29, 2012 7:07 pm

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a3b88472-7982-11e1-8fad-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1r1AnTMEX

Leaders of the world's most powerful emerging economies have threatened
to withhold additional financing requested by the International Monetary
Fund to fight the European sovereign debt crisis unless they gain
greater voting power at the Fund. Meeting in India on Thursday, the
heads of state from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
expressed frustration at the slow pace of reform at the Washington-based
multilateral lender, historically dominated by Europe and the US.

In a joint statement, the so-called Brics nations said there was an
urgent need to "better reflect economic weights" and "enhance the voice
and representation of emerging market and developing countries" at the IMF.

"We stress that the ongoing effort to increase the lending capacity of
the IMF will only be successful if there is confidence that the entire
membership of the institution is truly committed to implement the 2010
reform faithfully," the said. The Fund's shareholders agreed in 2010 to
shift more of its voting weight towards emerging markets nations, but
the US has not passed enabling legislation.

The leaders also criticised western countries for their poor handling of
the global economy in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Dilma
Rousseff, Brazil's president, accused western countries of causing a
"monetary tsunami" by adopting aggressive expansionist policies such as
low interest rates, which are making emerging economies less competitive
globally.

"This crisis started in the developed world," Ms Rousseff said. "It will
not be overcome simply through measures of austerity, fiscal
consolidations and depreciation of [labour costs], let alone through
quantitative easing policies that have triggered what can only be
described as a monetary tsunami, have led to a currency war and have
introduced new and perverse forms of protectionism in the world."
Despite uniting over reform of the IMF, the Brics failed to coalesce
around one of the two non-US candidates seeking the presidency of its
sister organisation, the World Bank. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian
finance minister, and José Antonio Ocampo, the former Colombian finance
minister, are both vying for the job, which traditionally goes to an
American.

Barack Obama, US president, has nominated Jim Yong Kim, the president of
Dartmouth College and a former head of the HIV/Aids programme at the
World Health Organisation.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Ocampo said Mr Kim lacked the
appropriate experience for the job. He also said he would be open to
discussions with Ms Okonjo-Iweala on whether one of them should pull out
of the race at some point so that the developing world can back a single
candidate.

"I think in terms of development expertise it is quite clear to everyone
that the finance minister of Nigeria and myself stand above the US
candidate, who has very narrow expertise in development," Mr Ocampo
said. "He is an excellent physician, nobody denies that, but we're
talking about a development institution."

Separately, the Brics, which represent about 45 per cent of the world's
population and a quarter of the global economy at $13.5tn, set up a
finance minister-led working group to consider formally creating a
common Development Bank for the grouping.

This is the first step towards an emerging market bank and comes as the
five countries have demanded greater financing support from the World
Bank for infrastructure development.

Robert Zoellick, the outgoing president of the World Bank, told Reuters
that a Brics-backed bank would have a hard time getting off the ground
and would struggle to match the World Bank's expertise. The criticisms
by the Brics reflected their growing confidence as well as frustrations
about the skewed governance structure of multilateral organisations.
Eswar Prasad of the Brookings Institution, a former senior IMF official,
said the emerging nations see the IMF, the World Bank and other
organisations as being unfairly stacked in favour of advanced economies.

"They see the policies of advanced economies and the present structure
of the international monetary system as significant threats to their own
economic stability," he said.

Additional reporting by Robin Harding in Washington

(8) Loose Brics - FT.com editorial

29 Mar 2012

Loose Brics

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/48a861ba-79aa-11e1-8fad-00144feab49a.html

As a marketing tool, the Brics brand has been a huge success. It has
focused attention on the rising power of five fast-growing economies
that account for almost half the world’s population and a quarter of its
economy. But for all its sunny show of ... {someone please send me the rest}

(9) BRICS bank will bypass SWIFT...Jewry's Weapon of Mass Destruction -
Brother Nathanael

Brother Nathanael <bronathanael@yahoo.com> 5 April 2012 12:17

SWIFT...Jewry's Weapon Of Mass Destruction

http://www.realzionistnews.com/?p=711

By Brother Nathanael Kapner

{http://www.realjewnews.com/
My Name Is Brother Nathanael Kapner
I'm A "Street Evangelist"
I Grew Up As A Jew
I'm Now An Orthodox Christian
I Wish To Warn How Zionist Jews
Are Destroying Christianity Throughout The World}

Can anything good come out of Brussels?

Well, with International Jewry’s reign of financial terror across the
Eurozone — operating out of Brussels — and command of globalization’s
financial trading service, “SWIFT” — also operating out of Brussels
—most would answer with a resounding, “No way.”

And now with Zionist Jewry’s — headed by AIPAC and its countless
powerful Lobbies throughout the Western World — latest personification
of evil focused on Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and its Supreme
Leader, Ali Khamenei, Jewry’s weapons of economic mass destruction have
found a whole new target.

You see, the so-called “nuclear threat” that Iran supposedly poses
toward Israel, (and of course the entire world as well), is just a cover
for Jewish Finance Capital’s efforts to delay…emphasis on delay…the end
of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, at least until they can
secure control of a brand new one.

It’s the threat of Iran’s oil exports traded in the various currencies
of the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa—that
poses the real threat to the International Banking Cabal, at least until
Zionist Jewry can figure out a way to gain total control over the BRICS
nations.

And they found a way to start doing just that: “SWIFT.”

You see, just last week, the leaders of the BRICS nations met in New
Delhi to deal with the implications of America’s latest sanction against
Iran. A world-threatening sanction at that.

By banning Iran’s banks from using member-owned “SWIFT”…the way money in
international trading is sent from bank to bank…(apparently under
Zionist-America control), ALL the nations of the world have been put ON
NOTICE that they could very well be next.

And the BRICS ain’t happy ’bout that.

For this is truly Zionist Jewry’s brand new way of waging war. If bombs
and NATO invasions won’t work—then “SWIFT” — Zionist Jewry’s deadly
Weapon of Mass Economic Destruction, will.

But International Jewry could be shooting itself in its foot.

Not only have the BRICS pledged to start trading in their OWN currencies
instead of the dollar — some in gold with Iran — they also agreed to
form an alternative International Bank to rival the Zionist-run World
Bank with an infrastructure providing for their own “SWIFT” system of
transferring money from bank to bank.

[CLIP: “The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa,
meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, drafted a joint statement lambasting
the West, quote, ‘aggressive monetary policies and dominance of global
institutions.’

“Collectively known as the BRICS, the heads of the world’s five largest
emerging economies also took steps at the Fourth Annual Summit towards
greater unity and launched a proposal to create a Financial Institution
that could eventually rival the World Bank.”]

What does this mean for the future of Judaic tyranny?

Methinks that the BRICS’ foremost nation, an emerging Russia…now a
Christian country with two Christian leaders, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry
Medvedev…can lead the way to an entirely New and Better World Order.

(10) SWIFT inter-bank network ... Iranian banks have been disconnected

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Worldwide_Interbank_Financial_Telecommunication

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
("SWIFT") operates a worldwide financial messaging network which
exchanges messages between banks and other financial institutions. SWIFT
also markets software and services to financial institutions, much of it
for use on the SWIFTNet Network, and ISO 9362 bank identifier codes
(BICs) are popularly known as "SWIFT codes". ...

The majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network.
As of September 2010, SWIFT linked more than 9,000 financial
institutions in 209 countries and territories, who were exchanging an
average of over 15 million messages per day (compared to an average of
2.4 million daily messages in 1995).[1] SWIFT transports financial
messages in a highly secure way, but does not hold accounts for its
members and does not perform any form of clearing or settlement.

SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer, rather, it sends payment
orders, which must be settled via correspondent accounts that the
institutions have with each other. Each financial institution, to
exchange banking transactions, must have a banking relationship by
either being a bank or affiliating itself with one (or more) so as to
enjoy those particular business features.

SWIFT is a cooperative society under Belgian law and it is owned by its
member financial institutions. SWIFT has offices around the world. SWIFT
headquarters, designed by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura are
located in La Hulpe, Belgium, near Brussels. ...

In January 2012, the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)
implemented a campaign calling on SWIFT to end all relations with Iran's
banking system, including the Central Bank of Iran. UANI asserted that
Iran's membership in SWIFT violated USA and EU financial sanctions
against Iran as well as Swift's own corporate rules.[17]

Consequently, in February 2012, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee
unanimously approved sanctions against SWIFT aimed at pressuring the
Belgian financial telecommunications network to terminate its ties with
blacklisted Iranian banks. Expelling Iranian banks from SWIFT would
potentially deny Iran access to billions of dollars in revenue and
spending using SWIFT, but not from using IVTS. Mark Wallace, president
of UANI, praised the Senate Banking Committee.[18]

Initially SWIFT denied it was acting illegally[18], but now says "it is
working with U.S. and European governments to address their concerns
that its financial services are being used by Iran to avoid sanctions
and conduct illicit business."[19] Targeted banks would be - amongst
others - Saderat Bank of Iran, Bank Mellat, Post Bank of Iran and Sepah
Bank [20].

On 17 March 2012, following agreement two days earlier between all 27
member states of the Council of the European Union and the Council's
subsequent ruling, SWIFT disconnected all Iranian banks from its
international network that had been identified as institutions in breach
of current EU sanctions, and that even more Iranian financial
institutions could be disconnected from the network.

[edit]United States of America government control over transactions
within the European Union

On February 26th 2012 the Danish newspaper Berlingske reported that USA
authorities evidently have sufficient control over SWIFT to seize money
being transferred between two EU countries (Denmark and German), since
they have seized around U$26,000 which were being transferred from a
Danish to a German bank. The money was a payment by a Danish businessman
for a batch of Cuban cigars previously imported to Germany by a German
supplier. As justification for the seizure, the U.S. Treasury has stated
that the Danish businessman has violated the United States embargo
against Cuba.[21] ...

This page was last modified on 5 April 2012 at 03:31.