Bank of America has been fined over $1.2 billion for violating anti-money-laundering and sanction laws. 

On Tuesday, October 13, the U.S. Department of the Treasury handed down the fine, stating that Bank of America had failed to report over $5 billion in “suspicious activity” to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). 

Over $1 billion of the activity was “national security-related and other priority illicit finance risks, including suspicious transactions indicative of Chinese Money Laundering Networks, fraud, and potential trade-based money laundering with a substantial nexus to the southwest border,” the Treasury stated in its announcement. 

“When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant illicit finance risk,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

The $1.2 billion fine is the Treasury Department’s third largest in its history. In 2023, it fined Binance $3.4 billion and, a year later, fined TD Bank $1.3 billion. 

The total figure includes a $750 million fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)—the largest in its history—for having an “ineffective” anti-money laundering program. 

It also comprised an $11.6 million settlement agreement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). While this is the smallest part of the fine, the 475 “apparent violations of sanction programs” are quite notable. These sanctions were against Russia, Iran, global terrorism, and narcotics, among other significant areas. 

According to the Treasury, “these apparent violations occurred when Bank of America channeled correspondent banking payments through blocked banks due to technical and human error.”

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