Latest news with #SocietyforWorldwideInterbankFinancialTelecommunication
Indian Express
07-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Trump labels BRICS ‘anti-American'—renews 10% tariff warning
In a fresh threat to the fast-growing BRICS coalition, which now includes 10 nations and was originally represented by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that any country aligning itself with the 'anti-American policies' of BRICS would face an additional 10 per cent tariff. Trump had threatened BRICS nations of a 100 per cent tariff 'if they so much as even think' about reducing the use of the dollar in global trade. Ever since the US weaponised the global financial infrastructure by excluding Iran (in 2012) and Russia (in 2022) from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), countries around the world have sought to reduce their dependence on the US dollar and the US-led global financial system. Most notably, Russia and China began trading in domestic currency. BRICS now accounts for 45 per cent of the global population and contributes over 35 per cent to the world's GDP. At their summit held in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024, the founding five members—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—formally admitted Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates as new members. Indonesia joined the grouping later in January 2025, bringing the total membership to ten. In October 2024, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar clarified that while US policies often complicate trade with certain countries, and India sought 'workarounds' in pursuit of its trade interests, it did not 'target' the dollar or seek to move away from it. 'We have never actively targeted the dollar. That's not part of our economic, political, or strategic policy. Some others may have done so. What I will say is that we have a natural concern. We often have trade partners who lack dollars for transactions. So, we must decide whether to forgo dealings with them or find alternative settlements that work. There's no malicious intent towards the dollar,' Jaishankar said in response to a question at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an American think tank in Washington DC. Following Western sanctions on Russia, including the freezing of $300 billion in Russian foreign holdings, the yuan has become Russia's most traded currency. According to the Russian government, more than 90 per cent of trade settlement between the two countries is now conducted in roubles. Ajay Sahai, Director General & CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), the country's top trade promotion body, told The Indian Express earlier that while supporting local currency initiatives, India should ensure the framework does not disproportionately favour China, given the asymmetry in economic power among BRICS nations. Ravi Dutta Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, covering policy issues related to trade, commerce, and banking. He has over five years of experience and has previously worked with Mint, CNBC-TV18, and other news outlets. ... Read More
Hi Dubai
30-06-2025
- Business
- Hi Dubai
Dubai Secures SIBOS 2029 as UAE Strengthens Global Financial Standing
Dubai has been selected to host SIBOS 2029, one of the world's premier financial services events, reaffirming the UAE's status as a global banking and payments hub. Organised annually by SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, SIBOS brings together over 10,000 leaders from banks, fintech firms, and financial institutions. Dubai's selection reflects international confidence in the UAE's digital transformation, innovation in payments, and leadership in financial infrastructure. The UAE Banks Federation (UBF), in coordination with key partners including Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai World Trade Centre, and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, played a pivotal role in securing the bid, with the support of the Central Bank of the UAE. UBF Chairman Abdulaziz Al-Ghurair said the decision underscores the UAE's growing reputation as a centre for global dialogue on financial innovation, secure banking systems, and modern payment infrastructure. This will be the second time Dubai hosts the prestigious event, having previously done so in 2013—the first Middle East and Africa destination to do so. Since then, the UAE has deepened its role in global financial connectivity through initiatives such as the SWIFT User Training Centre and the region's first National SWIFT User Group, launched in 2021. Jamal Saleh, UBF Director-General, called the hosting a milestone reflecting the UAE's progress in digital payments and alignment with international standards, powered by the National Payment Systems Strategy initiated in 2019. SWIFT EMEA CEO Marianne Demarchi welcomed the return to Dubai, praising its strategic location and role in fostering industry-wide dialogue. News Source: Emirates News Agency
26-06-2025
- Business
It's easier than ever to transfer money around the world. So why can it be a hassle for Canadians?
When Victoria resident Dick Newson tried to send €1,000 to a friend in France through a money transfer from his Scotiabank account, he didn't expect it to be a hassle. We were able to submit it and it said 'Done,' said Newson in an interview with CBC News last week. Two weeks later, our friend said, 'I don't have my money yet.' He's not alone in his frustration, according to one banking researcher, who notes that transferring money internationally can be costly, difficult or confusing if your point of origin is a Canadian bank. Typically, an international wire transfer requires information including the recipient's name, the name of their bank and codes including the International Bank Account Number (IBAN), the Bank Identifier Code (BIC) or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). Newson told CBC News he had all the codes required, but was frustrated by the bank's website, which he found confusing. Dick Newson tried to send 1,000 euros to his friend in France via Scotiabank. Weeks later, it still hasn't arrived. He wishes the international money transfer process wasn't so confusing. (Submitted by Dick Newson) Photo: (Submitted by Dick Newson) I went to their international money transfer web page and tried to enter all this information and had a lot of difficulty, he said. While Scotiabank's website (new window) offers the service for $1.99, Newson said he was told that price didn't apply when he asked for assistance, and he'd have to pay $25 if he went into a branch. Newson told CBC News via email Monday that Scotiabank had determined that the money had been deposited, but in a business or corporate account, and not the personal one of our friend. In an emailed statement Tuesday, Scotiabank said it's working closely with our client to ensure that this matter is solved to their satisfaction. But Newson's criticism is not just that the money is missing. He believes the process to send money internationally should be simpler and cheaper, similar to how Interac e-Transfers work to send money within Canada. It should be as easy going through the bank to do the same thing [internationally], he said. Canadian banks don't face much competition International trade economist Werner Antweiler points out that Canadian banks don't face a great deal of competition in this country when it comes to handling foreign currency and moving money around the world. It's an oligopoly. It's only a handful of banks that are in a very cozy spot, said Antweiler, who is a professor of economics at University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business in Vancouver. And that means they can keep fees relatively high. Especially those fees that are invisible to most customers. While he wasn't speaking specifically about Newson's situation, Antweiler pointed out that Canada's banks don't have to provide the same level of interconnection that many foreign banks do. Right now we don't have the kind of simplified system, for example, that's in place in the European Union where transfers are carried out in real time and at a really low cost, he said. Our Canadian banks make it really hard to hold money in a foreign currency, said Antweilier, noting that issues around transferring money can apply to markets a little closer to home as well. He noted that while you can have a U.S. savings account at some Canadian banks, you can only deposit or withdraw funds with many of those accounts. I cannot actually transact this account in the United States. It is not linked to the U.S. payment system, he said with regard to his own U.S. dollar account in Canada. Canadian banks even charge to receive money Bank charges to send money internationally can be as high as $45 (new window) at institutions like RBC. To receive a wire transfer, banks such as TD Bank will charge $15 (new window) — on top of whatever fee the sender had to pay. The Canadian Bankers Association, which represents both banks, points out that international money transfers come with costs because they're more complex than domestic transfers. In a statement to CBC News, the association, which represents more than 60 financial institutions, wrote that the cost to move money internationally remains consistent no matter how much money is sent, which is why banks usually charge a fixed fee rather than a percentage of the total payment. 1,000 euros sent from Canada remains lost, with Scotiabank saying it's 'working closely' with Newson to solve the issue. / THOMAS COEX For example, Canadian bank competitor EQ Bank offers online international transfers using a system backed by British financial company Wise. EQ Bank says its exchange rates are typically lower than the major banks, and they make it clear how much it will cost right off the bat. I'm gonna send … $300 Canadian … but how much is the recipient gonna receive in their bank account at the end of the day? said Dan Broten, senior vice-president and head of EQ Bank in Toronto, highlighting his company's belief that the higher exchange rates of a traditional bank also serve as a type of indirect fee. Many customers when they're dealing with a larger financial institution, it may not be clear to them. It's actually completely hidden, said Broten. Competitors trying to make it easier — and cheaper Canadian alternatives to bigger banks could see opportunity in targeting clients who send money outside of Canada, and some are advertising cheaper international money transfers for their customers. Fintech company Wealthsimple recently launched a new suite of products, with some traditional wire transfers being free (new window) for several weeks and providing access to a lower cost alternative system, also through Wise. In addition to partnerships with Canadian companies such as Wealthsimple, Wise also offers its own accounts and a debit-style card that allows clients to receive and spend in multiple currencies or online. In a statement to CBC News, Wise said the average fee it charges is .53 per cent of the money being sent, compared with what the company claims is an industry average of two to five per cent. The lower cost is part of the appeal for companies like Wealthsimple. You know exactly what you're paying for and it's gonna be significantly cheaper, or no fees, said Hanna Zaidi, vice-president of payment strategy at Wealthsimple. She says her company doesn't need to charge as much for wire transfers because it just doesn't have the same costs as a traditional institution. We don't have bank branches. We don't have all these administrative fees and overhead that we need to deal with, she explained. The increased competition may drive the traditional banks to respond, with Antweiler pointing out that there's more profit to be made as more customers seek international money transfers. Entering the market as a new competitor and offering a cheaper product will grab your market share, he said. Victoria man's money still missing Back in B.C., Newson acknowledges he may just have to play the waiting game, but said he'd like to see banks compete more when it comes to making it easier to send money abroad. I just wish banks would step up to that and say, you know, we would like to make it easier. However he also noted it's been more than a month and he still doesn't have his money back, while his friend in France is also sans l'argent (without cash). Scotiabank has done what it can from this end, he said, adding that he felt the bank stepped up to get him additional details to help. So next time? He says he'll use a competing service that may not rely on traditional banks. Anis Heydari (new window) · CBC News
Qatar Tribune
22-06-2025
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
China's payment system spreads across Africa and Asia amid US trade war
Agencies China's cross-border yuan payment system has signed up more financial entities from Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, as Beijing accelerates efforts to promote the global use of its currency amid rising tensions with the United States. A group of six financial institutions officially joined the yuan-based Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) as direct participants during a ceremony in Shanghai on Wednesday, becoming the latest entities to sign up to China's alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication system. The newcomers include the African Export-Import Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, South Africa's Standard Bank, Singapore's United Overseas Bank, the Kyrgyzstan-based Eldik Bank, and Chongwa (Macau) Financial Asset Exchange, a state-owned asset trading platform from the special administrative region, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Beijing has been promoting the CIPS – which was first launched in 2015 – as it strives to expand the use of the yuan in global trade and hedge against any potential moves by the United States to impose financial sanctions on Chinese system had 174 direct participants as of the end of May, though most of them were made up of domestic and overseas branches of Chinese banks, as well as Chinese branches of global financial giants such as HSBC, JP Morgan and Citibank. A direct participant refers to an entity that owns a CIPS account and can directly remit through the system, while indirect participants have to rely on others to complete transactions on their behalf. A total of 175 trillion yuan) of transactions was made via the CIPS last year, an increase of 43 per cent year on year. Beijing has been stepping up efforts to popularise the system in recent months as tensions with the US have risen over a slew of trade and technology issues, with Chinese officials warning of the danger of financial tools being weaponised. 'As geopolitical tensions escalate, traditional cross-border payment infrastructure is prone to being politicised and weaponised as a unilateral sanction tool, undermining the international financial order,' said Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, at the Lujiazui Forum on Pan did not name a specific country during the speech, the remarks were likely aimed at Washington. Chinese academics have long warned of the danger posed by US financial sanctions targeting China, citing the Russia case, and anxiety in Beijing jumped after US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to unprecedented levels in April. Though Beijing and Washington have since signed a trade truce – which included an agreement to roll back tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days – tensions remain high, with the two sides yet to agree a permanent deal to de-escalate the trade war.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Banks Might Hold XRP for Decades
XRP has tangible benefits over the legacy systems it's competing with. Those benefits are difficult to improve on by much. It also has a suite of compliance features that are already built in. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › For decades, international payments have been routed through the SWIFT network, which is a messaging system that connects thousands of banks. SWIFT transactions can take days, sometimes weeks, because of intermediary banks, currency conversions, and messaging delays. The main users, banks, need to carry liquidity buffers to cover the risk of those issues. This means that using SWIFT, which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, comes with a capital burden for banks. XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is a cryptocurrency designed for nothing flashier than moving value from A to B almost instantly and for almost nothing in fees. Banks wrestling with faster-payments mandates and cross-border fee pressure now have a tool that settles transactions in the time it takes to blink, so long as they're willing to abandon SWIFT. Here's why some of those banks and other financial companies are starting to consider XRP as a core reserve they might keep for decades rather than merely as a cryptocurrency investment to hold on the balance sheet. On the XRP ledger (known as XRPL), a transfer finalizes in roughly three to five seconds, with typical network fees of less than 0.001 XRP, or about a tenth of a cent at recent prices. For the sake of comparison, consider that SWIFT's own progress report touts a "dramatic" improvement to a 24-hour average for cross-border settlement last year, down from 96 hours in 2019. Why does that transaction time and cost gap matter to banks when it comes to choosing a technology to use? If you're a bank, capital that's trapped in transit is capital that isn't earning a yield. Every hour shaved off transaction settlement frees up capital that can be redeployed, thereby enabling the bank to generate more earnings than it would otherwise. Thus, there's a strong financial incentive here for banks to switch, and little that keeps them tied to the legacy solution except for inertia. Furthermore, XRP's fee structure is predictable. SWIFT's message charges, foreign exchange spreads, and flat fees can be on the order of $50 per transfer. Typically, those exchange fees are billed as a percentage of the transfer amount, with 1% being a common take, so costs add up quickly for players that need to transact frequently and in large sums. With XRP, costs stay microscopic regardless of notional transaction size, and there is no currency being exchanged, so there are no exchange fees at all. That reliability underpins the token's appeal as a utility reserve rather than a speculative investment. Once adopted, if it's anything like SWIFT, banks will be loath to transition to something else unless the benefits of doing so are very compelling. The speed of a solution alone has probably never sold a big bank's chief compliance officer on adopting a new technology. What moves the needle is control and traceability. XRP's ledger natively bakes a slew of regulatory compliance features directly into the protocol. Asset issuers, including those with key assets like stablecoins, can freeze individual trust lines, enact a global freeze, or enable deposit authorization so an account only accepts funds it has vetted. These features let banks satisfy know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) obligations without incorporating external smart contract code, which is a tremendous headache on many other chains, particularly Ethereum. As a result of XRP's compliance features and potential to cut costs, real-world pilots of financial businesses and organizations trialing XRP are piling up. Bhutan's central bank began a central bank digital currency (CBDC) sandbox on XRP's tech three years ago, looking to extend financial inclusion across its mountainous villages. More recently, Dubai green-lit a property tokenization platform that records deeds on XRPL, targeting $16 billion in real estate. Each project requires the ledger to prove it can handle regulated assets at scale, which is progress that risk officers and bank executives watch far more closely than investors typically do. If those trials mature into production systems, banks holding XRP as an operational reserve gain a second benefit of optionality. The same tokens that are useful for making large international payments can also pay ledger fees for tokenized bonds or be used for trading other tokenized financial instruments. That versatility hedges against the risk that today's fast payment rails become tomorrow's legacy drag in the way that SWIFT is. Thus, the durability of XRP as an asset is starting to look more persuasive than ever. XRP's price can be volatile, yet the direction of travel toward faster payments, programmable compliance, and institutional custody is hard to miss. For investors, that means the thesis behind buying and holding XRP today hinges less on a meme-driven price spike and more on the quiet decisions banks make to incorporate it over the next decade. Ripple, the company that issues XRP, is highly motivated to ensure that banks keep adopting the coin for their back-end use. If XRP becomes the solution for tokenized deposits, CBDCs, and cross-border wholesale flows, demand from institutions with no intention of selling could easily anchor the coin's long-term value. And so far, the evidence is that things are moving in that direction. Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 173% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 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