Three federal agencies have imposed penalties totaling more than $1.21 billion on Bank of America, alleging that the bank violated anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, according to a Tuesday (Oct. 13) press release issued by the Treasury Department.
The penalties imposed on Bank of America include the third largest one ever imposed by the Treasury Department and the largest ever imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the release said.
“When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant illicit finance risks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release. “Today’s actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law.”
Bank of America did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
AP reported Tuesday that Bank of America said in a statement: “Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right. We worked with regulators to reach these penalty resolutions stemming from violations cited in the previously reported 2024 [Comptroller of the Currency] Consent Order and FinCEN’s investigation.”
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“We have invested billions of dollars in technology and dedicated thousands of employees to combat financial crime, and our team is far along with and committed to completing the work required to address the issues raised by our regulators,” the statement said, per the report.
According to the Treasury Department press release, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed a $1.2 billion penalty on Bank of America, saying the bank failed to mitigate and report priority national security risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and illicit finance on the southwest border. These failures resulted in the bank failing to timely report to FinCEN over $5 billion in suspicious transactions.
In FinCEN’s own Tuesday press release, the agency said: “As part of its resolution with FinCEN, Bank of America admits that it willfully violated the BSA [Bank Security Act] and failed to implement and maintain an AML program that met the minimum requirements of the BSA and FinCEN’s implementing regulations, conduct due diligence for correspondent accounts for foreign financial institutions and file Suspicious Activity Reports.”
The OCC assessed its largest-ever civil money penalty, $750 million, on Bank of America, saying the bank’s anti-money laundering program is deficient and ineffective. The bank is subject to a December 2024 cease-and-desist order, which required it to address its deficient anti-money laundering program, but it still failed to prioritize compliance, per the Treasury press release.
In the OCC’s own Tuesday press release, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould said: “The second largest bank’s egregious and continued BSA violations warrant the OCC imposing its largest CMP [civil money penalty] ever assessed against a bank.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced an $11.6 million settlement agreement with Bank of America over 475 “apparent violations” of sanctions programs, including those on Iran, Russia, narcotics and global terrorism. As a result of those failures, the bank processed millions of dollars in payments in apparent violation of sanctions programs, according to Treasury’s release.
In OFAC’s own Tuesday enforcement release, the agency said: “The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that Bank of America’s apparent violations were non-egregious but largely not voluntarily self-disclosed.”
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