MANILA (UPDATE) - Shares of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) opened down on Monday after the bank was slapped with a record P1 billion fine following an investigation on a $81-million heist on Bangladesh's foreign reserves.

READ: RCBC fined record P1-B over Bangladesh cyber-heist

RCBC shares were down 1.7 percent to P32.05 when markets opened on Monday.

Luis Limlingan, head of research at Regina Capital, said the central bank's decision to impose the large fine sends a strong signal to the global community that it is serious in its campaign against money-laundering.

"As far as the whole banking sector is concerned, what I would see is that the BSP is trying to send a signal to the international arena that they’re very serious about this predicament and that’s why they’re imposing this big of a fine," he told ANC's "Market Edge with Cathy Yang."

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' Monetary Board said Friday it asked the bank to pay the fine, a move that affirms its "strong commitment to ensure the stability of the country’s financial system through strong and effective regulation" of financial institutions.

RCBC said it will pay the P1 billion in two equal tranches over a one-year period.

Meanwhile, Thea Daep, RCBC’s external legal counsel, urged the Bangladesh central bank to resume its investigation into the cyber heist.

“They stopped their investigation and then their ambassador here, John Gomes, started claiming it was an outside job. But their finance minister said it was an inside job,” Daep said in a statement.

Daep added that there was "negligence" on the part of Bangladesh Bank, saying the resignation of the Bangladesh Bank governor and two deputies "are clear indications of guilt and negligence."

“Something is very wrong here. What is it that they do not want to know and must therefore report to the public? They just keep saying they are the victims and want to get their money back when it was their apparent negligence that started it all,” she said.