U.S. regulators imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties on Bank of America after finding broad failures in its anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls. The action combines a $1.2 billion Financial Crimes Enforcement Network penalty with an $11.6 million Office of Foreign Assets Control settlement, according to the Associated Press.
Treasury described the case as the third-largest penalty in its history. A $750 million Office of the Comptroller of the Currency penalty counts toward the FinCEN amount and is the largest fine the OCC has imposed.
What regulators found
Bank of America admitted that it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act. The resolution says the bank failed to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering program, conduct required due diligence on some foreign correspondent accounts and file required suspicious activity reports, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Financial Times reported that the bank failed to properly report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions. Treasury said the missed activity included transactions indicative of Chinese money-laundering networks and illicit finance near the southwest U.S. border. Suspicious activity is not the same as proven criminal conduct.
The separate OFAC settlement concerns apparent violations of sanctions programs involving Iran, Russia, narcotics trafficking and global terrorism.
Bank of America’s response
Bank of America said the resolutions stem from issues cited in a 2024 OCC consent order and FinCEN’s investigation. In a statement reported by the AP, the bank said it has invested billions of dollars in compliance technology and assigned thousands of employees to financial-crime work. It said it remains committed to completing the changes required by regulators.
