The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG), working with the World Bank and supported by the European Commission, held a two-day regional workshop for banks on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and fraud-prevention obligations as part of preparations to introduce instant payments via the TIPS Clone project. The event brought together the CBCG, Montenegrin banks and regional central banks to strengthen mechanisms for identifying, monitoring and managing risks linked to real-time payments. Governor Irena Radovic highlighted that the rollout of instant payments needs strong control and supervisory arrangements, and that the CBCG is developing a regulatory framework aligned with European Union standards and Eurosystem practices, with an emphasis on system security and reliability and on preventing misuse and fraud while strengthening AML controls. Experts from the World Bank, the European Payments Council and other international financial institutions presented European standards and operational risk-management approaches, including suspicious transaction detection models, real-time risk assessment, rapid response arrangements and coordination between institutions and competent authorities. The instant payments system is planned for July 2026. The workshop sits within the Western Balkans Payment Systems Modernisation Project financed by the European Commission and implemented by the World Bank, and continues a regional initiative previously convened by the CBCG in Podgorica.

Original source View in tracker