Japan freezes 7 Russian Banks from SWIFT  and  oligarch assets

 Japan supports the European Union's decision to exclude seven major Russian banks from the SWIFT global payment network in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Thursday.

Suzuki told reporters that Japan will add four more Russian banks, including the second-largest VTB Bank, to the list of asset freeze targets. The other three are Bank Otkritie, Novikombank and Sovcombank.

The new asset freeze scheme will take effect April 2 after 30 days of transitional measures.

Japan has already decided to freeze the assets of three Russian banks--Russia's central Bank, Promsvyazbank and Vnesheconombank (VEB).

With Thursday's move, Japan's asset freeze will cover all seven banks to be barred from the SWIFT network at the initiative of the United States and the EU. SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

   Japan intends to freeze the assets of major Russian businessmen as part of the sanctions against Moscow imposed in connection with the situation in Ukraine, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday.

“We have imposed personal sanctions against representatives of the Russian government, including against President [Vladimir] Putin. We also intend to take measures to freeze the assets of the so-called Russian oligarchs,” Kishida said during the briefing.

PM Kishida also said Japan deems it is necessary to consider the possibility of significantly strengthening the country’s defence capability amid the current situation in Ukraine. “Protecting the population, life and property of the country is extremely important. We need to consider the possibility of significantly strengthening the country’s defence capability,” Kishida said during the briefing.