Montenegro’s Central Bank Makes Payments to Five Financial Institutions
For the first time in its history, the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) has determined, based on regulations, a fine ranging from 0.1 percent to 0.5 percent of regulatory capital due to identified non-compliance related to money laundering and terrorism financing in five banks, as reported by Forbes.
Out of the five penalties imposed, four were issued as written warnings, while one was issued as a formal resolution. Additionally, demands have been submitted to initiate misdemeanor proceedings against two credit institutions.
For one of these banks, the maximum permissible fine of 0.5 percent has been applied, according to Gordana Kalzić, the director of the Directorate for Supervision of Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism, along with Customer Rights Protection for Credit Institutions and Financial Services Users.
The CBCG has refrained from disclosing the identities of the banks involved, as Kalesić explained that the data, information, and documentation obtained through the bank supervision process are confidential.
In line with the law on combating money laundering and financing terrorism, this information can solely be used for performing tasks related to this legislation and may be shared with the Sector for Financial Intelligence of Police Administration and other relevant law enforcement agencies.
“Thus, the CBCG cannot publicly disclose information regarding the identity of taxpayers who have incurred penalties or against whom misdemeanor proceedings have been initiated,” Kalezic stated.
She further noted that throughout this year, the CBC has enacted a total of 11 supervisory measures in connection with irregularities identified during controls, with six of those being written warnings (issued to five credit institutions and one microfinance institution) and five as resolutions directed toward credit institutions.
The Annual CBC report for 2023 indicated that a total of 13 inspections related to money laundering were conducted, resulting in five measures being taken, alongside the initiation of two misdemeanor proceedings.