Within Council of Europe/EU’s Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey Phase II – Action against Economic Crime in Montenegro (AEC-MNE), the introductory workshop for the risk-based supervision of real estate intermediaries and the construction sector took place on 21 December 2021 in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The objective of this workshop was to familiarize supervisors of the real estate sector with the methodology for sectorial AML/CFT risk assessment, as a first step in the prioritisation of the supervisory activities to address the pertinent risks in the sector. The tools and procedures for reviewing sector risk were discussed, including the development and use of questionnaires, scoping and resolving challenges in the collection, processing and analysis of data.

Through the discussions and exercises, the participants were guided through the process of designing the questionnaire and obtaining information on the nature, size and type of reporting entities, their clients, services and products and channels for providing the services. The risk management strategies were thoroughly addressed as well during the workshop.