The two-day regional seminar “Mapping Financial Crime Risks Linked to New Technologies in the Western Balkans: Trends, Practices and Regulatory Responses” took place on 14–15 October 2026, bringing together 45 representatives of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and supervisory authorities overseeing financial institutions and virtual asset service providers across the Western Balkans.
The seminar aimed to strengthen regional understanding of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks associated with new payment methods, virtual assets and technology-driven customer due diligence (CDD) solutions, while promoting practical cooperation and policy responses to mitigate these risks.
Participants examined the findings of a regional review of risks associated with payment services, virtual assets and the use of new technologies in CDD procedures. The review covered vulnerabilities in the legal and strategic frameworks governing the use of new technologies across the six Western Balkan jurisdictions and presented the results of a survey assessing the use of regulatory technology (RegTech) solutions by supervisory authorities and reporting entities in the financial and non-financial sectors.
Building on the review’s findings and the risks identified in the region, participants worked with two practical guidance tools designed to support risk mitigation: one focused on remote customer due diligence and the supervision of technology-enabled compliance solutions, and the other on identifying indicators and typologies of the misuse of new technologies for money laundering and terrorist financing by payment service providers and virtual asset service providers.
Discussions highlighted several common regional challenges, including the implementation of the travel rule; risks associated with the growing use of artificial intelligence in RegTech solutions and insufficient human oversight; inconsistencies between group-level policies of financial institutions and national regulatory frameworks; difficulties faced by reporting entities in explaining the logic underpinning RegTech tools to supervisors; discrepancies between internal policies governing RegTech and their implementation in practice; and regulatory frameworks struggling to keep pace with technological developments.
As a key outcome, participants recognised the need to integrate risks arising from the use of RegTech in compliance and supervisory processes into national risk assessments (NRAs) and broader risk assessments of money laundering and terrorist financing (BWRAs). They also highlighted the need to develop dedicated mitigating measures, drawing on the tools provided by the Council of Europe and adapting them to the specific legal, institutional and operational context of each jurisdiction.
The seminar strengthened the basis for regional cooperation and provided participating authorities and reporting entities with practical resources to support more risk-sensitive use and supervision of new technologies in AML/CFT frameworks.
This workshop was organised by the Action against Economic Crime in the Western Balkans within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe, "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”. The action is supporting public actors in the region in improving their anti-corruption and anti-money laundering policy and operational responses, in line with European standards and good practices.