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Interestingly SWIFT was used to effectively depose a Head of State already, specifically Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The Vatican's Bank was banned from the syst

by User23 5y ago

Interestingly SWIFT was used to effectively depose a Head of State already, specifically Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The Vatican's Bank was banned from the system and allowed back on after Benedict's resignation. The lesson was not lost on Russia or China and they have been building an alternative system called BRICS. Edit: Here's a contemporary source[1] from a "reputable" newspaper. It doesn't mention SWIFT by name but that's what it was. There were other "reputable" sources covering the story more explicitly back in 2013 as well, but web search's extreme recency bias leaves me unable to find them. Perhaps visit your local university library and they can help you search the periodicals. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pope-struggled-to-lift-sacred-secrecy-of-vatican-finances/2013/02/15/a1620d06-7760-11e2-b102-948929030e64_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pope-struggled-t...

mschuster91 5y ago
The only reference I could find about that is an obscure Italian blog with the comment section filled with absurd conspiracy theories. Do you have some credible sources?
mohanmcgeek 5y ago
BRICS is not an alternative to SWIFT. Russia, India, China -- the RIC -- in BRICS are each working on/have their own SWIFT like system. There's a BRICS bank though.
pmontra 5y ago
Maybe this? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20903443 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20903443
mdiesel 5y ago
The timing would imply that Benedict XVI resigned (at least in part) due to the scandal involving blackmail of homosexual members of the church. The wiki page on the resignation doesn't go into that at all, but does link to the scandal in the "See Also" section. > On 17 December 2012, the Pope received a report on "Vatican lobbies" ... . The same day, the Pope reportedly decided to resign, a decision he made public in February 2013 It's possible that multiple factors added up to make the job too overwhelming for one man of his age, but the "vatileaks" scandal appears to be far more significant in coverage from what I can see.

by User23 5y ago

mschuster91 5y ago

The only reference I could find about that is an obscure Italian blog with the comment section filled with absurd conspiracy theories. Do you have some credible sources?

mohanmcgeek 5y ago

BRICS is not an alternative to SWIFT. Russia, India, China -- the RIC -- in BRICS are each working on/have their own SWIFT like system. There's a BRICS bank though.

pmontra 5y ago

Maybe this? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20903443 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20903443

mdiesel 5y ago

The timing would imply that Benedict XVI resigned (at least in part) due to the scandal involving blackmail of homosexual members of the church. The wiki page on the resignation doesn't go into that at all, but does link to the scandal in the "See Also" section. > On 17 December 2012, the Pope received a report on "Vatican lobbies" ... . The same day, the Pope reportedly decided to resign, a decision he made public in February 2013 It's possible that multiple factors added up to make the job too overwhelming for one man of his age, but the "vatileaks" scandal appears to be far more significant in coverage from what I can see.