One good reason for and four against

Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt There’s a simple reason why Russia hasn’t yet decoupled from the Swift financial system: the move wasn’t prepared when Russian tanks invaded Ukraine.

That is now changing. The EU Commission is working on an assessment of how an exclusion would affect it. When member states next discuss sanctions, Swift will be an option. That was unthinkable until a few days ago, but now politicians, diplomats and economists are demanding it.

Experts are amazed at the consensus that prevails on the subject.

“Have we thought through all the risks and costs?” asks financial expert Laura von Daniels from the German Science and Politics Foundation. “We could no longer buy gas from Russia,” she warns. “And we risk a shock to global financial markets.”