Ukraine war news: Regulators say US financial system unimpeded by conflict and sanctions
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of US banking giant JPMorgan Chase, has cautioned that a decision by the west to remove Russian banks from the Swift global financial messaging system could have “unintended consequences”.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV on Monday, Dimon said ejecting Russian banks from Swift could harm other countries and that there was scope to find workaround solutions around the ban. Dimon argued that sanctions could have a more targeted impact.
“A sanction says I cannot do business with you. A Swift thing says I can’t use a communication for business with you, I can still do business with you,” Dimon said.
In a joint statement on Saturday, the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the European Commission said they would eject some unnamed Russian banks from Swift, ensuring they are “disconnected from the international financial system”.
Analysts estimate that US banks such as JPMorgan have a more limited direct business exposure to Russia than European peers.
In its most recent annual report, JPMorgan, which is the largest US bank, did not list Russia among its top 20 markets for financial exposure.
The big US bank with the largest exposure to events in Russia is Citigroup, which on Monday said it had almost $10bn worth of exposure to Russia through loans, government debt and other assets.
