MONEYVAL begins evaluation of Montenegro's progress in combating money laundering and financing of terrorism

Podgorica, Montenegro (3 March 2014) – The Council of Europe MONEYVAL’s team of evaluators began Monday the fourth report on Montenegro's progress in combating money laundering and financing of terrorism.

The team is tasked to make an assessment on the Montenegrin legislation’s compliance with international standards, as well as on the financial system functioning and the results achieved in this area.

In accordance with the procedure established, the Council of Europe’s experts will meet with representatives of the competent state authorities involved in fighting against money laundering and financing of terrorism, and assess the system in certain segments, and each institution, respectively.

Evaluators will subsequently draft the first version of the report, which will be submitted to all the institutions for comments or suggestions, on basis of which the evaluators will assess whether the suggestions are credible, and if so, they will be incorporated in the Council of Europe’s report.

According to the MONEYVAL’s procedure, the evaluators will meet with representatives of Montenegro’s state institutions. Following the meeting, the report will get the final form and will be defended before the MONEYVAL Committee of Experts in Strasbourg, scheduled for December 2014.

If the report is successfully defended, the MONEYVAL Committee will approve it and determine a degree of compliance with the FATF recommendations. That means that the Montenegrin system for combating money laundering and financing of terrorism operates in line with the international standards, and that Montenegro will be requested to implement a number of recommendations until the next evaluation.