BRICS: Next Summit to Focus on Bank-to-Bank Communication Systems

The BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry expects the leaders of the member countries of this international organization to “consider the issue of bank transfers” during the next summit scheduled for October 22-24 in the Russian city of Kazan. Sameep Shastri, vice president of the BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry for India, told RIA Novosti that “the biggest challenge the BRICS countries are facing is the lack of an interbank telecommunications system similar to SWIFT or the Indian Financial System Code, IFSC, commonly used in international trade.” As a result, money is hoarded and blocked in accounts within the BRICS countries, causing trade to suffer and stop. Shastri expressed hope that the BRICS leaders, along with the leadership of the New Development Bank (NDB), the BRICS lending institution, would find a solution to this burning issue as soon as possible.

In early 2024, the group, originally consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, was expanded by five new member states: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

As part of the Western sanctions imposed on Russia by the USA and its allies, Russian banks have lost access to the SWIFT system. On September 19, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new sanctions against five banks based in Russia and the Georgian region of South Ossetia suspected of “involvement in payments between Russia and North Korea.” As specifically reported by OFAC, the sanctions affected the following credit institutions: MRB Bank, TSMR Bank, Russian Financial Corporation Bank, Stroytrade and Timer Bank.”