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Bank of America faces a $1.2 billion penalty after the U.S. Treasury Department found the bank violated anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. Treasury officials announced the fine on Tuesday, describing it as the third-largest penalty in the department’s history. As part of the total, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered the bank to pay $750 million — the largest fine the OCC has ever issued.
A Clear Message to Major Financial Institutions
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not hold back in his response to the violations. “Today’s actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law,” Bessent said in a statement. He also warned that when a bank of this size fails its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the risks extend well beyond the bank itself and expose the entire U.S. financial system to serious threats.
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Bank of America is the second-largest bank in the United States. It serves more than 70 million clients and processes roughly $4.5 trillion in payments for individual customers each year. In addition, the bank handles $450 trillion annually in payments for corporate clients, covering payrolls, corporate credit cards and supplier transactions.
Billions in Unreported Suspicious Transactions
Treasury officials said Bank of America admitted it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act. The bank also admitted it failed to maintain an anti-money laundering program that met the minimum legal requirements. Furthermore, the bank acknowledged failing to file mandatory Suspicious Activity Reports.
The Treasury Department stated that Bank of America failed to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN. Of that total, over $1 billion involved activity linked to national security concerns. Treasury said the suspicious transactions included activity connected to Chinese money laundering networks, fraud and potential trade-based money laundering with ties to the southwest border. FinCEN’s role is to combat money laundering, illicit finance and terrorist financing networks globally.
Sanctions Violations Across Multiple Programs
Beyond the FinCEN violations, Treasury also said Bank of America agreed to settle potential civil liability for 475 apparent violations across multiple U.S. sanctions programs. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which manages U.S. sanctions enforcement, oversaw that part of the settlement.
Treasury officials said the bank processed millions of dollars in payments that apparently violated sanctions targeting Russia, Belarus, Iran, Burma, Somalia, narcotics trafficking and global terrorism.
Bank of America Responds
Bank of America acknowledged the seriousness of the findings in a statement to NBC News. “Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right,” the bank said. The bank added that it has invested billions of dollars in technology and assigned thousands of employees to fight financial crime. It also said its team is well advanced in completing the work required to address the issues raised by regulators.
The bank further committed to continuing its support of federal and local law enforcement across thousands of investigations. It also said it files hundreds of thousands of suspicious activity reports each year. Meanwhile, Bank of America is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings shortly before 7:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
