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The US Treasury Department imposed a $1.2 billion fine on Bank of America after it failed to monitor and report suspicious financial transactions. Its value exceeded $5 billion, including transactions worth $1 billion, which the ministry said involved risks related to national security and illicit financing.

The ministry said on Tuesday that the violations included failure to report transactions potentially linked to Chinese money laundering networks, in addition to money laundering operations through trade that are largely linked to the southern border of the United States.

The penalty is the third largest fine imposed by the Treasury Department in its history.

The Ministry explained that the bank relied excessively on inquiries received from external parties, such as law enforcement agencies and other financial institutions, instead of relying on its internal controls to proactively detect and report suspicious activities. In practice, she said, this approach resulted in a large part of monitoring and reporting responsibilities being assigned to external parties.

As part of the settlement, the bank admitted that it “willfully” violated the Bank Secrecy Act, as a result of its failure to maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program, conduct the required due diligence regarding foreign correspondent banking accounts, and submit the necessary reports on suspicious activities, according to the Treasury Department.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said that the failure of a banking institution of this size to fulfill its obligations related to combating money laundering and comply with sanctions, its repercussions are not limited to the bank; Rather, the entire American financial system is exposed to significant risks associated with illicit financing.

Multiple penalties

The total fine includes penalties imposed by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency amounted to $750 million, becoming the largest in the history of this regulatory body.

As for the Office of Foreign Assets Control, it said that the settlement with the bank relates to 475 potential violations of US sanctions programs, including sanctions related to Russia, Iran, drugs, and global terrorism. The settlement amounted to $11.6 million. The office classified the violations as non-serious.

For its part, Bank of America told the BBC that it has come a long way in the work required to address the issues raised by the regulatory authorities, stressing its commitment to completing these efforts.

The announcement of the fine came less than 24 hours before the bank announced its financial results for the third quarter, on Wednesday. The bank said that its results will include expenses worth $1.2 billion that cannot be deducted for tax purposes, reducing net income by about 17 cents per share.

He added that he had already allocated significant human and financial resources to address the deficiencies, and that the costs of these efforts were included in the current expenditure base.

The Central Bank of Singapore kept its monetary policy unchanged, on Wednesday, in a move that contradicted the expectations of analysts who expected it to be tightened, driven by strong economic growth and the risks of rising inflation.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced that it would maintain the current rate of rise in the nominal effective exchange rate of the Singapore dollar, which is the main tool it uses to manage monetary policy, without changing the range of movement or the level around which it revolves.

The bank said that the current monetary policy scope, which allows the currency to continue to rise, will help limit the expected increase in imported inflation in the near term, allowing inflationary pressures to gradually ease during 2027.

The decision came as a surprise to the markets, as the ten analysts polled by Reuters expected a tightening of monetary policy. The bank made a slight adjustment in the direction of tightening during July, after a similar step in April.

In an indication of the strength of economic activity, preliminary government data issued on Wednesday showed Singapore's economy growing by 5.4 percent on an annual basis during the third quarter of 2026.

US President Donald Trump said that Taiwan has agreed to buy 30 percent of the liquefied natural gas that will be produced by the Alaska Pipeline Project, in a move that comes as part of Washington's efforts to boost US energy exports to Asian markets and reduce the trade surplus that displeases the US administration.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who joined Trump at an election rally in Alaska, said on Tuesday that Taiwan has pledged to invest $4.4 billion in developing the pipeline. The final terms of the agreement were not immediately clear, nor was it confirmed whether it had been signed in binding form.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economy, which is responsible for energy policy, did not immediately comment on the statements. Taiwanese Prime Minister Chu Jong-tae said that the government is working to “stabilize energy supplies and enhance their resilience,” like other governments.

Last February, Taiwanese officials announced their intention to increase purchases of American natural gas to constitute about a third of the island's gas imports this year, while reducing purchases from other countries. Taiwan's CPC Energy Company also signed an agreement with the Alaska Gas Pipeline Development Company last year to purchase gas and invest in the project.

The governor of Alaska at the time said that Taiwan had signed a letter of intent to purchase 6 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually from the project, while Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te considered that the investment would contribute to enhancing the island's energy security.

A project to expand American exports

If the project is implemented, it will be able to export up to 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually. So far, it has concluded agreements covering 13 million tons annually with buyers in Asia and the French company Total Energies, while it needs additional agreements for about 3 million tons, with these understandings turning into binding contracts to secure financing.

The project would provide a direct route for US gas exports to Asian markets, including Taiwan, without passing through the Panama Canal or going around the Cape of Good Hope, which could reduce transportation time and costs.

Taiwan seeks to increase its purchases from the United States, including energy, in an effort to reduce its trade surplus with Washington. Trump said last month that South Korea had agreed to invest in the Alaska project, whose cost is estimated at about $54 billion, but Seoul made clear that the agreement had not yet been decided.