The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich's London branch £150,000 for money laundering rule breaches.
The FSA's investigation found that RZB London failed to act promptly to update its anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance manual, last updated in 1999, to reflect the introduction of the watchdog's new Money Laundering Rules in 2001.
In particular, the UK regulator says RZB London's compliance manual did not include sufficient assistance to staff to enable them to comply with identification requirements for certain categories of customers.
Andrew Procter, FSA director of enforcement, says: "RZB London's failure to comply with the client identification provisions exposed the firm to an unacceptable risk of being used for money laundering."
He says the bank has since moved to resolve the problem and introduce appropriate controls.