Austrian watchdog halts business at Euram Bank

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's financial regulator FMA has ordered Euram Bank to halt business operations immediately due to gaps in the Vienna-based bank's money-laundering prevention, the FMA said on Wednesday.

The FMA in July ordered the European American Investment Bank AG (Euram) to establish legal compliance regarding the prevention of money laundering or else face a coercive penalty.

The Austrian deposit guarantee scheme will ensure balances of up to 100,000 euros ($108,800.00) must be refunded, said the FMA. The deposit guarantee must also take any money-laundering reviews into account, added the Austrian financial regulator.

($1 = 0.9191 euros)

(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich, Writing by Miranda Murray; editing by Matthias Williams)