One of the main goals of the bank is to provide banking services to individuals and companies – residents and non-residents alike, especially conducting domestic and international payments, currency exchange operations, commission transactions, trade financing, lending, factoring, and similar activities. Montenegro is part of the Balkan route – the main trade corridor, through which, among other things, criminal activities such as drug smuggling and human trafficking take place. In the broader regional states, proceeds from these activities are sometimes "laundered" through certain schemes involving private companies, and in some cases, even public enterprises.
One of the bank's main priorities is to establish an effective internal transaction monitoring system to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. International regulations, European Union law, and the laws of Montenegro (Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, with sublegal acts) obligate the bank to build and maintain such a system, contributing to the overall monitoring of financial transactions and providing assistance to prevent revenues from criminal activities or terrorist financing from entering legal financial flows in Montenegro or abroad.
The bank emphasizes that the execution of payment transactions for clients – especially non-residents – represents a significant source of its revenue. On the other hand, the bank thoroughly examines all data related to such operations to understand and determine the ownership structure of the client, business characteristics, and a complete understanding of the structure, objectives, and results of individual transactions, all in accordance with the main rule related to financial monitoring – "Know Your Customer."
For the practical implementation of preventing money laundering and terrorism financing, the bank has adopted appropriate programs and procedures related to the identification and monitoring of client business relationships, all in accordance with the laws of Montenegro and regulations of the European Union governing this area. In line with this, the bank has established a Department for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
Moreover, the bank has implemented a modern information system designed to automate financial monitoring processes and monitoring from the perspective of restrictive measures related to preventing money laundering and terrorism financing.
