The United States has imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties on Bank of America after regulators found failures in its anti-money laundering controls and compliance with sanctions laws....
The United States has imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties on Bank of America after regulators found failures in its anti-money laundering controls and compliance with sanctions laws.
The US Treasury Department said the bank, the country’s second-largest by assets, failed to properly report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions, including activities linked to suspected Chinese money laundering networks and illicit finance along the US-Mexico border.
The enforcement action includes a $750 million civil penalty imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which described it as the largest civil money penalty it had assessed against a bank.
The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also assessed penalties, while the Office of Foreign Assets Control announced an additional $11.6 million settlement over apparent violations of sanctions programmes involving Iran, Russia, narcotics and global terrorism.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action underscored the government’s determination to hold financial institutions accountable.
“Today’s actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law,” Bessent said.
He warned that failures by major banks to meet anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations could expose the wider US financial system to illicit finance risks.
The penalties follow a December 2024 cease-and-desist order requiring Bank of America to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering programme and compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act.
However, the Treasury said the bank had failed to prioritise compliance despite agreeing to the earlier order.
Under a new consent order, the bank must work with a third party to identify and report suspicious transactions that regulators say went undetected. It must also undergo an independent review of its transaction-monitoring systems and due diligence procedures.
A Bank of America spokesperson said the bank would recognise a $1.2 billion charge in its third-quarter results, reducing net income by approximately 17 cents per share.
The spokesperson added that the institution remained committed to addressing regulatory concerns and would continue cooperating with law enforcement agencies.
“We will continue to support federal and local law enforcement across thousands of investigations and report hundreds of thousands of suspicious activity reports each year,” the spokesperson said.
The announcement came a day before the bank was scheduled to publish its third-quarter earnings. Its shares fell 2.6 per cent in after-hours trading following the announcement.