9TH INTERBALKAN FORUM OF BANKING ASSOCIATIONS

The 9th InterBalkan Forum of Banking Associations (IFBA) meeting was held in Podgorica, Montenegro on Friday 9th May 2008.
The Forum was attended by a European Banking Federation representative as well as by the Secretaries General, Members of the Executive Boards and other senior representatives of Banking Associations of Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.

The 9th IFBA meeting was opened with the welcome address of Mr. Mirko Radonjic, Secretary General of the Association of Montenegrian Banks (AMB). Due to the excused absence of the Chairman of the IFBA Professor Christos Gortsos, Secretary General of the Hellenic Bank Association, the meeting was chaired by Dr. Michael Kammas, Director General of the Association of Cyprus Commercial Banks. The meeting continued with presentations on the overview of the Economy and the Banking Sector in Montenegro (by Mr. Nebojsa Djokovic, Advisor in AMB), the Role and the Significance of Supervision through the experience of the Central Bank of Montenegro (by Mr. Velibor Milosevic, Deputy General Director for Bank Supervision) and the Deposit Insurance in Montenegro (by Mr. Predrag Markovic , Managing Board President of the Deposit Protection Fund).

On the occasion of the Forum, the Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, Mr. Ljubisa Krgovic, delivered a speech on the Montenegrian Banking Sector.

During the second session, the Guest Speaker Mrs. Viktorija Proskurovska, Adviser of the European Banking Federation, presented the Current Challenges of the EU Banking Sector. The session ended with the presentations for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (by Ms. Jovanka Krunic, Head of Analytics Department) and the Current Developments in the Regulatory Framework of the European Banking System (by Mr. Vasilis Panagiotidis, Special Advisor of the Hellenic Bank Association).

The meeting was concluded with suggested procedures and topics to discuss in future IFBA meetings, such as extensive presentations and discussions on the SEPA project, Anti-Money Laundering, Combating Terrorist Financing practical implementation issues as well as the Recent Financial Turmoil.

The next IFBA meeting will take place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in early October 2008.

The IFBA is an institution which intends to promote the banking business in the Balkan region. It was established in 2004 based on the initiative of the Hellenic Bank Association. Today, the Forum has 10 Members - Banking Associations of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. The Forum convenes twice a year in different Balkan cities (on a rotation basis) and its representatives have the opportunity to discuss extensively a large number of issues of common interest, related to important parameters of banking activities as well as to exchange ideas and views on the development and support of joint educational programs.