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Cornell International Law Journal

Keywords

Cross-border payments, Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, Blockchains, SWIFT (Organization)

Abstract

The abstract below was generated using an artificial intelligence tool. It has not been endorsed by the author.   This Note examines the global cross-border payments system through the lens of collective action theory, arguing that the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) functions not merely as a financial messaging network but as a collective agent essential to the stability and legitimacy of international finance. While technological innovations—particularly blockchain-based platforms such as Ripple—promise improvements in speed, cost, and efficiency, the author contends that these advantages alone are insufficient to supplant SWIFT. The cross-border payments system requires not only technical functionality but also widespread trust, coordination, and legitimacy among competing financial institutions, which SWIFT’s cooperative governance structure uniquely facilitates.

The Note further analyzes political pressures on SWIFT, including sanctions regimes and geopolitical conflicts, as well as emerging technological competition from blockchain networks. It concludes that private blockchain systems, driven by profit motives and lacking institutional legitimacy, cannot effectively replace SWIFT’s role as a global coordinating authority. Instead, the future of cross-border payments lies in modernizing SWIFT and preserving its function as a neutral, collective infrastructure rather than allowing fragmented or privately governed alternatives to dominate a system critical to global economic stability.

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