Treasury hits Bank of America with record penalty

The US Treasury Department imposed one point two billion dollars in fines on Bank of America on Tuesday for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.

Third-largest fine in Treasury history

The penalty is the third-largest ever issued by the Treasury Department, behind a roughly four billion dollar settlement with Binance in twenty twenty-three and an approximately three billion dollar settlement with TD Bank in twenty…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the violation

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the bank's failure exposes the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks. He stated even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law.

“When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls”

Specific violations cited by regulators

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network assessed the penalty for Bank of America's failure to mitigate and report priority national security risks, including Chinese Money Laundering Networks and illicit finance along the southwest border.

Additional settlement over sanctions violations

Bank of America reached an eleven point six million dollar settlement with the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control over apparent violations of sanctions programs including on Iran, Russia, narcotics and global terrorism.

Bank of America acknowledges willful violations

Bank of America admitted it willfully violated the nineteen seventy Bank Secrecy Act, which requires banks to help the government detect and prevent money laundering.

“Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right”