The urgency of enhancing the risk-based supervision over the virtual assets sector increased following the registration in Serbia of the first VASPs in 2023. A tailored approach, taking into account the specific risks diverging from those of traditional financial and non-financial services, is crucial for the effectiveness of oversight of virtual assets operations. In response to this pressing need, the project “Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Serbia” organized a two-day seminar on Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) supervision, for the representatives of the National Bank and Securities Commission. 
 
The first day of the event was dedicated to the analysis of existing drafts of supervisory tools and recommendations for their improvement, including entity-level risk assessment, guidelines for onsite supervision, and data collection questionnaires. Participants had the opportunity to discuss practical challenges with experienced supervisors and VASP compliance experts and to get insight into evolving supervision practices in this, still largely uncharted area. During the second day, step-by-step guidelines for onsite supervision were presented and participants undertook a practical exercise using data from a real-life case, which provided them with a hands-on experience and preview of potential challenges that supervisors will probably encounter during their work.
 
Recommendations provided during the seminar as well as the practical examples will be used by the Serbian authorities to update the first version of their supervisory tools and to conduct onsite supervision more efficiently and more effectively. The active participation of the supervisory authorities demonstrates a commitment to further enhancing Serbia's regulatory capabilities in the future.
 
The activity has taken place within the Project “Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Serbia”, funded by the Swedish International Development Agency, and implemented by the Council of Europe.