Bank of America fined more than $1.2 billion in the US — The National
The US Treasury Department ordered Bank of America to pay more than $1.2 billion in fines for violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. As The National reports, the department described the penalty as the third-largest in its history.
In addition, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered the bank to pay $750 million — the largest fine this regulator has ever imposed. In 2024, the office had already issued Bank of America a cease-and-desist order over deficiencies related to the Bank Secrecy Act and compliance programs.
Sanctions regime violations
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also announced an $11.6 million settlement with Bank of America. It concerns 475 alleged violations of sanctions against Russia, Belarus, Iran, Myanmar and Somalia, as well as sanctions programs related to drug trafficking and global terrorism.
The Treasury Department said that the bank admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions to help the department identify and prevent money laundering.
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Unreported transactions
According to the Treasury Department, Bank of America failed to report suspicious transactions worth more than $5 billion to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. More than $1 billion of that amount, the department said, involved national security risks, possible links to Chinese money-laundering networks, fraud and other activity significantly connected to the US southwest border.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that a major bank’s failure to comply with anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements creates significant illicit financing risks for the country’s entire financial system. According to him, the regulators’ decision should demonstrate that even the largest financial institutions are not above the law.
Bank of America is the second-largest bank in the United States, has more than 70 million customers and processes approximately $4.5 trillion in customer payments annually.
