In 2019 CiviKos, a CSO umbrella organisation, published research which pointed out the ways financial institutions were restricting CSOs’ access to their services. CSOs were experiencing major issues such as their bank accounts closing suddenly with no notification, higher maintenance fees for their accounts in comparison to individual or corporate accounts, and unusual due-diligence requirements.
Following this research, CiviKos organised Kosovo’s first multistakeholder meeting on the issue of derisking. In attendance were multiple CSOs alongside representatives from the Central Bank, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Administration and the Banking Association.
The discussion identified recommendations to improve the situation in Kosovo for CSOs, including the following:
- continuing with the multi-stakeholder dialogue;
- awareness-raising and capacity building for CSOs on the drivers behind AML/CFT regulations, compliance requirements and advocacy strategies;
- clarity of guidance from the Central Bank;
- Central Bank ensuring that there is similarity between what different banks request from CSOs;
- banks ensuring that information requested is made specific for the CSO sector;
- recognition by banks of the legal representative of the organisation (as also registered with the Ministry of Public Administration;)
- harmonisation of the monthly maintenance fee;
- creation of an ombudsperson role;
- more risk-sharing among stakeholders, so that all the risk is not borne by the CSOs.
As a follow up to this multi-stakeholder dialogue, the Kosovo Bank Association standardised the list of documents that banks should require from CSOs and removed the requirements for the founders of CSOs and the physical presence of the Board. This list was shared with the banks, but it is not yet officially formalised by all of them.
Read more details about the event on the FATF Platform website here.
