Much has been made of the possible geopolitical motivations behind the decision to price the $5 billion Russian-Indian S-400 deal in roubles, and Moscow and Beijing are eyeing another rouble/yuan-based trade compact. However, Sputnik has discovered that there's also a purely economic reason for the three countries to move away from the dollar. [...]

The blacklisting of Iran from international financial messaging system SWIFT serves as a warning to Washington’s enemies, but will hasten the demise of the dollar, stockbroker-turned broadcaster Max Keiser told RT. SWIFT, a system that facilitates cross-border payments between 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries worldwide cut several Iranian banks, including the country’s [...]

In pushing the SWIFT financial messaging system to exclude Iran, the US has “gone rogue,” economist Steve Keen told RT. SWIFT cut a raft of Iranian banks - including the country’s central bank - off from its system on Monday, having come under pressure from the US to do so. [...]

The list of the countries currently taking active steps towards eliminating their economic reliance on the US dollar is growing. Russia has joined a league of nations is making a lot of headway with the task, the WSJ reports. [...]

The Iranian Central Bank has been cut off the SWIFT financial messaging system, the US Treasury Department has said. Disconnection makes it more difficult for the Islamic Republic to settle import and export bills. [...]

A new study by top economists and experts found that tax avoidance and evasion translate into hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid taxes every year, with the money ending up in the pockets of the world’s wealthiest people. [...]

As the United States continues to slap Iran with sanctions, Washington allowed several countries, including South Korea, to purchase certain limited amount of Iranian oil without fear of reprisal. The governments of Iran and South Korea have agreed to forgo the use of US dollar in bilateral trade and instead switch to their respective national currencies in such transactions as Washington moves to [...]

Chip-enabled credit cards, introduced to consumers in the US in 2015, were intended as added security against fraud, but have failed to live up to the promise, according to a new study. Rampant credit card fraud in the US prompted a rollout of chip-enabled credit cards in 2015, intended to stop, or at least limit the widespread hijacking of America's plastic money. [...]

German conservative Friedrich Merz said Thursday that Brexit would have a major impact on continental Europe's economy. He added that Brexit was the biggest threat the EU could be facing at the moment but didn't hope to see another referendum in the UK. [...]

Russia’s money transfer system, developed as an alternative to SWIFT is now more popular than the global network, said Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Russian parliamentary committee on financial markets. [...]

US threatens to smack SWIFT if it allows transactions in violation of Iran sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has warned global financial messaging service SWIFT on Friday that it could be penalized if it doesn’t cut off financial services to entities and individuals doing business with Iran. [...]

The latest data from the World Gold Council (WGC) shows that central banks in Eastern Europe and Asia significantly boosted their gold holdings. The regulators purchased 148 metric tons of gold in the third quarter of 2018. [...]

Central banks around the world are increasing their gold reserves at an incredible pace. Over the last three months alone, they have purchased gold worth 5.82 billion dollars, which is roughly a quarter more than the year earlier. It is noteworthy that the Bank of Russia and the Turkish Central Bank have broken a record in terms of gold purchases. [...]

Libya has been in turmoil since the ouster of its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Its eastern part is ruled by the country's parliament, supported by the Libyan National Army, while the UN-backed Government of National Accord headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj operates in the country's west. [...]

Good financial results shown by Russian companies may facilitate the return of foreign investment to the country, Moody's senior vice president Kristin Lindow told Sputnik news agency. “…Recent strong corporate profits quite naturally can result in repatriation of profits by foreign investors. Also, the cleanup that the CBR (Central Bank of Russia) has done in the banking system has significan [...]

A joint report by UBS and PWC showed that world’s billionaires’ wealth enjoyed its greatest-ever increase last year, hitting $8.9 trillion shared among 2,158 individuals. The past 30 years have seen far greater wealth creation than the Gilded Age” the report said. “That period bred generations of families in the US and Europe who went on to influence business, banking, politics, philanthro [...]

Wall Street opened sharply lower on Friday, weighed down by a dramatic fall in stock prices of American technology companies. The US markets have now entered correction territory, down over 10 percent from September highs. [...]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points Wednesday amid a sharp drop in tech shares. The fall has erased all remaining gains made by the market in 2018. In addition to the Dow's plunge, the S&P 500 fell 3 percent, also turning negative for the year, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 4.4 percent. [...]

This video analyses the wars in the middle east and the geopolitical issues that may lead to a confrontation between Russia, China, Iran and their allies, and the US and it's allies, which include Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. WHAT IS THE PETRODOLLAR? What is the Petrodollar and Why Does It Matter Was The End Of The Petro Dollar Just Announced By The President? /* [...]

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is cutting down on its holding of US Treasuries, joining many other emerging economies which have been off loading their stock of US debt amid rising rates. The country’s share of US sovereign debt saw a gradual decline from $157 billion in March to $140 billion as of the end of August, according to the latest US Treasury report. [...]

Countries around the world are turning to gold as uncertainty about the global economy rises. Trade wars and the aggressive policies of the United States are making emerging economies withdraw from dollar assets, analysts told RT. [...]

A joint investigation headed by investigative journalist organization Corrective alongside French newspaper Le Monde and German broadcaster ARD uncovered a scandal involving "cum-ex" deals, which helped shareholders run off with profits at taxpayers' expense. [...]