The amendment strengthens creditworthiness assessment standards by requiring creditors to evaluate disposable income after living costs and existing obligations, which is a core consumer protection obligation ensuring fair lending practices.
The creditworthiness assessment requirements also reflect conduct of business standards requiring firms to treat consumers fairly and professionally in their lending decisions.
Product
The amendment directly regulates creditworthiness assessment standards for consumer loans, establishing affordability and repayment-capacity requirements that apply across all consumer credit products.
The amendment's focus on disposable income after living costs and the threshold of loan obligations exceeding half monthly income suggests relevance to debt sustainability across consumer credit generally, though no specific product type is exclusively targeted; flagged for human review due to moderate confidence.
Obligation
The amendment mandates creditors to assess a consumer's ability to repay by evaluating disposable income after living costs and existing obligations, which is the core definition of Creditworthiness Assessment.
The amendment also introduces a repayment-capacity threshold (loan obligations exceeding 50% of monthly income as increased risk), which relates to evaluating whether a consumer can meet financial obligations without undue hardship, an element of Affordability Assessment.
Activity
The amendment directly modifies creditworthiness assessment standards for consumer lending, requiring creditors to evaluate repayment capacity using disposable income after living costs and existing obligations.
The strengthened assessment framework also incorporates affordability principles by requiring consideration of minimum living costs and regular consumer obligations alongside income, supporting the affordability assessment activity.
Themes
The amendment directly strengthens creditworthiness assessment standards by requiring creditors to evaluate disposable income after living costs and existing obligations, which is the core Affordability and Creditworthiness theme.
The expanded assessment requirements and over-indebtedness prevention measures reflect broader Consumer Protection objectives to ensure retail customers are treated fairly and not harmed by lending practices.
Functions
The amendment directly modifies creditworthiness assessment standards and underwriting criteria that credit risk functions must implement when evaluating consumer loan applications.
Compliance functions must monitor adherence to the new creditworthiness assessment requirements and ensure creditors' policies align with the amended standards, though this is a secondary oversight role.
2026-08-11 07:46:36·arahman@vixio.com
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TITLE: Montenegro's Central Bank Amends Consumer Creditworthiness Assessment Requirements
BODY:
On July 17, 2025, the Council of the Central Bank of Montenegro passed a decision amending the Decision on the Detailed Method, Requirements, and Procedure for the Consumer Creditworthiness Assessment, which was originally published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro (OGM 135/25).
The amendment modifies Article 3 of the original decision to strengthen creditworthiness assessment standards. The Central Bank (CBCG) expanded the definition of consumer creditworthiness to explicitly require creditors to consider disposable income remaining after meeting minimum living costs and other regular consumer obligations. Additionally, the CBCG introduced a new paragraph establishing that consumer loan obligations exceeding half of a consumer's regular monthly income should be considered an increased risk to repayment sustainability. However, creditors may determine otherwise if documented regular income and other relevant facts demonstrate the consumer's capacity to meet obligations even in such cases. The amendment removes previous language restricting creditworthiness assessments to limitations set out in the Consumer Credit Law (OGM 15/25 and 87/26).
These changes strengthen consumer protection by requiring creditors to conduct more comprehensive assessments of borrowers' financial capacity, taking into account living expenses and existing obligations rather than gross income alone. The amendments align with consumer credit regulations across the European Union and aim to reduce over-indebtedness among Montenegrin consumers.
The decision entered into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Montenegro. The amendment applies to all creditors operating in Montenegro's consumer credit market.
Pursuant to Article 44 paragraph 2 item 3 of the Central Bank of Montenegro Law (OGM 40/10, 6/13, 70/17 and 125/23), and Article 30 paragraph 12 of the Consumer Credit Law (OGM 15/25 and 87/26), the Council of the Central Bank of Montenegro, at its meeting held on 17 July 2025, passed the following DECISION AMENDING THE DECISION ON THE DETAILED METHOD, REQUIREMENTS, AND PROCEDURE FOR THE CONSUMER CREDITWORTHINESS ASSESSMENT Article 1 In the Decision on the detailed method, requirements, and procedure for the consumer creditworthiness assessment (OGM 135/25), in Article 3 paragraph (2) item 1) after the words: “ consumer’s“ the following words shall be added: “in relation to the consumer’s regular monthly income, taking into account the disposable income remaining after meeting the minimum cost of living and other regular obligations of the consumer” In paragraph (5) the wording: “in accordance with the restrictions set out in the Law” shall be deleted. After paragraph (5) a new paragraph shall be added, worded as follows: “(6) In the procedure for creditworthiness assessment, the creditor should consider obligations arising from a consumer loan agreement that exceed half of the consumer’s regular monthly income to constitute an increased risk to the sustainability of repayment, unless, on the basis of other relevant facts and documented regular income, it determines that, even in such cases, the consumer is capable of duly meeting the obligations.” Article 2 This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the “Official Gazette of Montenegro”. THE COUNCIL OF TE CENTRAL BANK OF MONTENEGRO Decision number: 0101-5744-7/2026 Podgorica, 17 July 2026 CHAIRPERSON G O V E R N O R Irena Radović, m.p.