Bank of America Fined $1.2 Billion for Money-Laundering Failures

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties on Bank of America on Tuesday for violating anti-money-laundering laws and sanctions rules. Regulators said the nation's second-largest bank failed for years to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions and to fix longstanding compliance problems.

More than $1 billion of the unreported activity involved national security and other high-priority risks, including Chinese money-laundering networks and illicit finance along the southwest border. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action sends a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law.

“Today's actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law.”

As part of the settlement, Bank of America admitted it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain a compliant anti-money-laundering program and file required suspicious activity reports. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said the $1.2 billion penalty is the third-largest in Treasury history.

Bank of America said it has invested billions in compliance and is far along in remediation efforts. The bank stated the penalties will result in a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge in third-quarter results, reducing net income by about 17 cents per share. Shares fell about 2% in after-hours trading following the announcement.