The South African Reserve Bank imposed administrative sanctions on VBS Mutual Bank for failing to comply with the Financial Intelligence Center Act, which is designed to combat financial crimes.

An inspection by the central bank uncovered weaknesses in control measures against money laundering and terrorism financing.

The sanctions comprise a penalty of 2.5 million South African rand and a directive to take remedial actions in certain areas, including the verification of customers' details and compliance with cash threshold reporting requirements.

As of Aug. 4, US$1 was equivalent to 13.46 South African rand.