Montenegro is a country in the Balkans. The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) programming in the country strengthened anti-money laundering (AML) legal frameworks through the recently, Case-Based Training on Intel-Led Money Laundering Investigations Across the Balkans and Southeast Asia (ILFI) Program—funded by the US Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
Montenegro Background
The ILFI program was a dynamic, multi-regional effort to strengthen AML legal frameworks. ABA ROLI has provided a combination of multilateral and country-level assistance to governments and financial investigators to build Financial Intelligence Unit and investigator capacity to use available open-source intelligence data to identify money laundering trends, detect money laundering, and bolster investigations and prosecutions. ABA ROLI implemented the program across the Balkans and Southeast Asia, specifically in Thailand, Lao PDR, Indonesia, the Philippines, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the Pacific Islands.
ABA ROLI’s other AML-focused program on FATF (Financial Action Task Force) Compliance in Eastern Europe—specifically Albania and Serbia—expanded its country jurisdictions in 2023 to include Montenegro and North Macedonia. This program is funded by INL.