SWIFT definition

SWIFT moves messages, not money. Settlement happens in the accounts banks hold with each other; the message tells them what to do.

That distinction matters for sanctions. Disconnecting a bank from SWIFT does not freeze its assets; it removes the standard way of instructing payments, which can be replaced, slowly and badly, by other channels. The structured message formats are also what makes automated screening possible, and therefore what stripping attacks.

Where this term is used

How is correspondent banking used to evade sanctions? — Using a chain of banks that each know only their own customer, so that a payment for a restricted party reaches a currency it could not access directly, without any bank in the chain seeing the whole transaction.
How is cryptocurrency used to evade sanctions? — Settling obligations in virtual assets so that value moves without a correspondent bank, a payment message or a screening system in the path, and without any institution able to block it in transit.
What are third-country bank accounts and how are they used? — Holding accounts in a jurisdiction unconnected to the restricted party, the goods or the contract, so that payments reach and leave the restricted economy without ever appearing to touch it.

Related terms

Correspondent banking — An arrangement in which one bank holds an account for another and provides payment and other services on its behalf, usually to give it access to a foreign currency.
Wire stripping — Removing or altering originator, beneficiary or reference information from a payment message so that screening at an intermediary bank does not identify a restricted party.
Screening — Automated comparison of names, identifiers and other transaction data against sanctions lists and internal watchlists, at onboarding and on each payment.

Where this term is used

Related terms

Sources