Iran’s SEPAM to replace SWIFT in trade transactions: ACU chief

Tehran, IRNA – The secretary general of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) says Iran’s financial messaging system SEPAM will replace SWIFT, a dollar-based international system, in trade exchanges between ACU members beginning next month.

Farhad Morsali said that Iran’s SEPAM has been accepted by ACU members as an internal financial messaging system, according to a Saturday report by Fars News Agency.

He said it will take six months for the union’s own messaging system to be ready, and in the meantime, the members should replace SWIFT with SEPAM, for which Iran will charge a fee.

Iran unveiled SEPAM in October 2013 as an alternative to SWIFT, a Belgium-based financial messaging system that is being gradually abandoned by countries because of its sheer reliance on transactions that are based on the US dollar.

Last month, central bank governors of ACU member states decided at a summit in Tehran to create an internal financial messaging system to replace SWIFT in banking transactions between members of the bloc.

The decision was in line with the efforts made by ACU members to reduce the domination of the US dollar in global trade.

Iran’s CBI governor Mohammad-Reza Farzin said on May 24 that the bloc will diversify the basket of currencies it accepts for payment settlements to help the global de-dollarization bid.