LONDON - Britain's financial watchdog said on Wednesday it had fined Al Rayan Bank plc 4 million pounds ($4.85 million) for failing to put in place adequate controls to prevent money laundering.

"Al Rayan was aware of these weaknesses and failed to implement effective changes to fix them, despite the FCA raising concerns about the inadequacies of their systems," the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a statement.

The bank did not dispute the findings and agreed to settle, thereby qualifying for a 30% discount on the fine, which otherwise would have been 5.7 million pounds, the FCA said.

($1 = 0.8243 pounds)

(Reporting by Huw Jones Editing by Mark Potter)