Serbia and Montenegro: AML/CFT Regulatory Bodies Receive Boost from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and Council of Europe

A significant step forward in combating money laundering and terrorist financing has been taken in Serbia, courtesy of a landmark agreement between the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Council of Europe. The project “Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Serbia” aims to bolster the country’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulatory framework, ultimately strengthening its prevention and enforcement regime.

Project Objectives

To achieve this goal, the project will focus on developing an effective and sustainable framework for preventing and suppressing money laundering and terrorist financing. This will involve:

Creating primary and secondary legislation
Organizational solutions
Specialist training

Expected Outcomes

The project expects to yield several key outcomes, including:

Strengthened compliance and oversight of AML/CFT regulations within financial and designated non-financial sectors
Enhanced risk management among Non-Profit Organizations with regards to terrorist financing
Improved border controls related to cash and goods smuggling, terrorist financing, and proliferation

Additionally, the project aims to:

Increase transparency in beneficial ownership information for legal persons and arrangements
Enhance criminal justice sector processing of money laundering and terrorist financing cases
Strengthen effectiveness in the confiscation of proceeds and instrumentalities of crime
Foster greater inter-agency cooperation on verifying asset declarations

Project Partners

The Council of Europe’s Unit for Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (E & SEE) is leading the project, with support from SIDA. Contacts are available at:

The Council of Europe Headquarters in Strasbourg
The Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Serbia