Bank of America faces more than $1.2 billion in US compliance penalties
In short
The US Treasury Department announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America over anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations on October 13. The bank said it would record a $1.2 billion charge in its third-quarter results.
Read the full story 1 min read
The US Treasury Department announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America on October 13 over failures in its anti-money-laundering programme and sanctions compliance. The action includes a $750 million civil penalty from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC. CNBC reported that this amount is credited within the overall total, rather than added to it, and is the largest penalty the OCC has assessed. [ 1 , 4 , 9 ]
Treasury said the bank admitted willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failing to maintain an anti-money-laundering programme that met minimum legal requirements, NBC News reported. The department said the bank had not promptly reported more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions. More than $1 billion of that activity involved national-security-related and other priority illicit-finance risks, including suspected Chinese money-laundering networks, fraud and potential trade-based money laundering linked to the southwest border, according to the department's account. [ 2 ]
The Associated Press reported that Bank of America also reached an $11.6 million settlement with Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control over apparent sanctions violations involving programmes covering Iran, Russia, narcotics and global terrorism. CNBC said the OCC accused the bank of failing to correct deficiencies under a cease-and-desist order signed in 2024. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the bank's failures exposed the wider financial system to illicit-finance risks. [ 1 , 3 ]
Bank of America said it had invested billions of dollars in technology and assigned thousands of employees to combat financial crime. The bank said its third-quarter results would include a non-tax-deductible charge of $1.2 billion, reducing net income by approximately 17 cents per share, CNN reported. Its spokesperson said substantial personnel and resources had already been devoted to remediation and that those costs were in its current expense base. [ 4 ]
Why it matters
Treasury said the bank's reporting failures exposed the US financial system to illicit-finance risks. The bank said the charge would reduce net income by about 17 cents per share.
Key facts
- Treasury announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America. [ 1 , 4 , 9 , 11 ]
- A $750 million OCC penalty is credited within the total. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Treasury said the bank admitted willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act. [ 2 , 3 , 9 ]
- The bank said third-quarter results would include a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge. [ 4 , 9 ]