Latest amendments to the AML/CFT Law and the Law on the Freezing of Assets with the Aim of Preventing Terrorism and Proliferation of WMD
The latest amendments to the AML/CFT Law and the Law on the Freezing of Assets with the Aim of Preventing Terrorism and Proliferation of WMD (available at https://www.apml.gov.rs/english/legislation), which came into force on 6 December 2024, aligned the relevant legislation with the latest AML/CFT standards set introduced by FATF, primarily with Recommendation 1, which implies conducting a risk assessment and risk-based approach in countering ML/TF/WMD PF.
A concept of WMD proliferation financing has been introduced into AML/CFT Law, customer due diligence measures that obliged entities and relevant authorities are required to take have been expanded to include the prevention of financing of proliferation of WMD in addition to the prevention of ML/TF (risk analysis, risk-based customer due diligence, development of indicators, conducting a national risk assessment, supervision of prevention of WMD proliferation financing, PF and NRA risk-based supervision planning, etc). The supervisory authorities referred to in AML/CFT Law have been tasked with supervision of the implementation of the Law on the Freezing of Assets with the Aim of Preventing Terrorism and Proliferation of WMD.
By introducing amendments to the AML/CFT Law the country has responded to the assessed risks and vulnerabilities of the real estate sector - the movement of cash, and prevented the integration of dirty money into the legal financial flows through the criminal offence of usury. There is now a restriction of a natural person receiveing cash on hand on the basis of a property sale agreement and a loan agreement in the amount of or exceeding 10.000 EUR in Dinar countrevalue. The intention of the legislator is to channel through bank accounts all the payments in cash in the amount of or exceeding EUR 10.000,00 in Dinar countervalue based on the purchase and sale of goods/real estate, provision of services and receiving loans.
