MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia expects that the number of countries participating in the Financial Messaging System (SPFS) will reach 18, the regulator said on Friday.

The regulator noted that by the end of 2022, this figure should reach 15 countries. As of the end of September, 440 participants were connected to the SPFS, including more than 100 non-residents from 12 countries.

Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said earlier that the traffic of Russia’s SWIFT counterpart, the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia grew by around a quarter in 2022, and may continue to grow. "Our Financial Messaging System, our SWIFT counterpart, serves banks throughout the country without interruptions. The system has been fully operational for several years, but this year, when several banks were disconnected from SWIFT, the System’s traffic rose by around a quarter, and can continue to grow. We have no problems with that," she said.

In 2014, the Bank of Russia launched the Financial Messaging System (SPFS) in test mode. The system can transmit data in the SWIFT format, but does not depend on its channels. In 2017, the system started working in full, transmitting messages about transactions in any currency.