USA fines Bank of America 1.2 billion for violating anti-money laundering laws

The US Treasury Department announced sanctions imposing fines of more than $1.21 billion on Bank of America, the second largest US lender, "for violations of anti-money laundering regulations and sanctions regimes". These are measures, the Treasury explained in a note, which "include the third highest fine in the history of the Treasury Department and the highest in the history of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (Occ)".

The sanctions

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a $1.2 billion fine for the bank's failure to mitigate and report "priority national security risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and illicit financial flows along the southwest border." The OCC imposed a civil monetary penalty of $750 million, which contributed to the settlement of the $1.21 billion, "due to the deficiencies and ineffectiveness of the Bank's BSA/AML (anti-money laundering) compliance program." The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced an $11.6 million settlement agreement with the bank related to alleged violations of numerous sanctions programs, including those involving Iran, Russia, narcotics trafficking and global terrorism.

Measures

“Financial institutions are on the front lines of protecting our economic and national security,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, adding, “When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences reach far beyond its domestic borders, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant risks related to illicit financial flows. Today's actions send a clear message: not even the largest financial institutions are above the law.” Bank of America, among other things, admitted to intentionally violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failing to "timely" report more than $5 billion in "suspicious" transactions, the Treasury said.