Central Bank of Montenegro and Deutsche Bundesbank agree to deepen capacity-building cooperation aligned with European System of Central Banks standards

The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) reported on a meeting between Governor Irena Radovic and Burkhart Balz, a member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bundesbank, focused on further strengthening bilateral cooperation to build the CBCG’s institutional and regulatory capacity in support of European integration and alignment with European System of Central Banks (ESCB) standards. Discussions highlighted continued cooperation through the forthcoming third phase of a regional Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) project for Western Balkans central banks coordinated by Deutsche Bundesbank, and a new twinning project, “Support to Regulation of Financial Services in Montenegro,” scheduled to start in September with Deutsche Bundesbank as a key partner. The twinning project is intended to further align Montenegro’s regulatory framework with the EU acquis in banking supervision, credit institution resolution, and payment systems, with the CBCG noting a high degree of existing compliance and positioning the project to support timely updates to new EU directives and standards. The CBCG also cited recent progress supporting its European agenda, including contributions to nine negotiation chapters, integration into the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), preparations for accession to the TIPS system, and measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Both sides agreed to continue strategic dialogue and expand exchanges of expertise in central banking, payment infrastructure, and financial stability.