Bank of America Fined $1.2 Billion for Anti-Money Laundering Failures

The U.S. Treasury Department fined Bank of America $1.2 billion on Tuesday after the bank admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failing to report over $5 billion in suspicious activity.

U.S. authorities imposed the penalty after Bank of America failed to maintain compliant anti-money laundering protocols. According to the Treasury Department, the bank did not timely report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions. Over $1 billion of that activity was linked to national security risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and illicit finance along the southwest U.S. border. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the action demonstrates that even the largest financial institutions are not above the law.

The total penalty includes a record-breaking $750 million fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which regulators described as the largest ever levied by the agency. Additionally, the bank reached an $11.6 million settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding 475 apparent violations of sanctions programs involving Russia, Iran, narcotics, and global terrorism. The Treasury noted that the bank effectively outsourced its detection obligations by relying too heavily on external inquiries from law enforcement rather than its own internal controls.

Bank of America confirmed it will take a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge in its third-quarter results, which is expected to reduce net income by approximately 17 cents per share. The bank's stock dropped about 2% in after-hours trading following the announcement. The news broke less than a day before the company was scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on Wednesday morning.

In a statement provided to outlets including the BBC and NBC News, Bank of America said it has invested billions of dollars and dedicated thousands of employees to combating financial crime. The bank stated it is "far along" in completing the remediation work required by regulators. A spokesperson added that the bank remains committed to supporting law enforcement and reporting hundreds of thousands of suspicious activities annually.

Background

The penalties stem from violations cited in a 2024 OCC Consent Order and a subsequent FinCEN investigation. This $1.2 billion fine marks the third-largest penalty in Treasury history, trailing only previous settlements with Binance and TD Bank.