The Council of the Central Bank of Montenegro adopted a package of by-laws to further strengthen the financial system’s regulatory framework and advance payment system modernisation, including new limits for banks’ investments in immovable property and fixed assets, expanded financial reporting obligations across supervised non-bank firms, updated payment transaction reporting requirements, and five resolution-related decisions. The amended minimum standards on investments in immovable property and fixed assets are intended to encourage credit institutions to take a more proactive approach to managing and collecting non-performing exposures. A new decision on the content, deadlines and manner of preparing and submitting financial statements, aligned with the Law on Accounting, extends the obligation to submit financial statements to the central bank from credit institutions to all other financial institutions supervised by the Central Bank of Montenegro, including microcredit financial institutions, leasing companies, factoring companies, purchase of receivables, credit guarantee funds, payment institutions and electronic money institutions, with the central bank planning to publish the submitted statements on its website. Payment system reporting rules were also amended to improve the scope and efficiency of reporting in payment transactions and to implement European standards, while the resolution decisions were adopted to harmonise with the Law on Resolution of Credit Institutions and the new Decision on Capital Adequacy of Credit Institutions, supporting obligations under Chapter 9 on Financial Services. Separately, the Council reviewed early impacts of SEPA, estimating savings of EUR 2.4 million from 7 October 2025 to 7 January 2026, with an average SEPA transaction cost of EUR 6.15 versus EUR 73.4 for SWIFT transactions in 2024, and highlighted potential additional savings of over EUR 1.3 million in the corporate sector if more transactions shift from SWIFT to SEPA. Work with the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro and other business associations is planned to promote SEPA usage, and implementation of the national instant payment system (a TIPS clone) being developed with Banca d’Italia was reported as on track, with system application expected in July 2026.
Central Bank of Montenegro 2026-01-26
Central Bank of Montenegro adopts by-laws tightening banks’ fixed-asset investments and expanding financial statements and payments reporting
The Central Bank of Montenegro's Council adopted by-laws to enhance the financial system's regulatory framework, including new investment limits for banks, expanded financial reporting for non-bank firms, and updated payment transaction reporting. Additionally, the Council reviewed SEPA's early impacts, noting significant cost savings and ongoing efforts to promote SEPA usage and develop a national instant payment system with Banca d’Italia.