The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take action against ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank for their involvement in money laundering, Deputy Governor H R Khan has confirmed.

A sting operation by a web portal had exposed willingness of employees of the three private sector banks to be accomplices in money laundering.

Speaking to media persons in Delhi yesterday, Mr. Khan said, "Scrutiny has been done, action is being taken both in respect of systemic level and at the individual banks."

However, Mr. Khan neither disclosed details of the action nor gave a precise time frame. But, he assured that the action would be taken very soon.

This will be the first major action by the RBI following the government enacted the Banking Regulation Amendment Act.

The sting operators had sent undercover operatives to some branches of the three private banks. The operatives claimed that wished to launder crores of rupees belonging to a politician, and the banks' employees agreed.

Earlier, RBI had rights to impose a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh per offence, but the implementation of the Banking Regulation Amendment Act allows the central bank to impose a fine up to Rs 25 lakh per offence.