Bank of America Hit With $1.2 Billion Fine Over Failure to Report $5 Billion in Suspicious Transactions

Bank of America faces more than $1.21 billion (£907.5 million) in US regulatory penalties and settlements after authorities found widespread failures in its anti-money laundering controls and delayed reporting of suspicious financial activity.

The enforcement actions, announced on 13 October 2026, concern failures to report more than $5 billion (£3.75 billion) in suspicious transactions promptly, alongside apparent violations of US sanctions programmes.

National Security Risks and Compliance Failures

The US Treasury Department said more than $1 billion (£750 million) of that activity involved national security-related and other priority risks. These included transactions potentially linked to Chinese money laundering networks, fraud and trade-based money laundering connected to the US south-western border.

Bank of America admitted to wilful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. The findings concern failures in the bank's compliance systems; they do not establish that every transaction identified as suspicious involved criminal conduct.

Why Bank of America Faces the Penalties

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed a $1.2 billion (£900 million) penalty over the bank's failure to meet key anti-money laundering obligations.

Regulators found that the bank failed to maintain an adequate compliance programme, conduct required checks on correspondent accounts held for foreign financial institutions and file suspicious activity reports promptly.

These reports give authorities information about transactions that may warrant investigation. Delays can reduce their usefulness by allowing potentially illicit activity to continue before investigators receive the relevant information.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) separately assessed a $750 million (£562.5 million) civil penalty, the largest in its history. However, that amount is credited towards FinCEN's assessment rather than added to it.

The distinction prevents double-counting: the combined penalties do not include the OCC assessment as an additional payment on top of the full FinCEN amount.

Separately, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced an $11.6 million (£8.7 million) settlement over 475 apparent sanctions violations. Together, the FinCEN penalty and OFAC settlement amount to $1.2116 billion (£908.7 million).

What the Suspicious Transactions Figure Means

The more than $5 billion (£3.75 billion) figure represents suspicious financial activity that authorities said Bank of America failed to report promptly. It is not a finding that the entire amount was laundered or otherwise criminal.

Treasury officials identified activity indicative of Chinese money laundering networks, suspected fraud and possible trade-based money laundering with a substantial connection to the south-western border.

The separate OFAC settlement concerned apparent violations of sanctions programmes involving Iran, Russia, narcotics trafficking and global terrorism, among others.

OFAC classified the apparent violations as non-egregious and said they were largely not voluntarily self-disclosed. The settlement concerns potential civil liability, distinct from the failures addressed by FinCEN and the OCC.

Earlier Regulatory Action and Required Reviews

The enforcement action follows a December 2024 OCC cease-and-desist order requiring Bank of America to address deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance programme.

The latest OCC penalty addresses violations of the same legal framework. FinCEN is also requiring remedial action as part of its resolution with the bank.

Bank of America must work with an independent third party to review previously undetected suspicious transactions. Additional assessments will examine its anti-money laundering controls, including transaction monitoring and checks on customers and foreign correspondent accounts.

Those reviews are intended to identify activity that should have been reported and assess whether the bank's systems can prevent similar failures.

How Bank of America Responded

Bank of America said it had invested billions of dollars in technology and dedicated thousands of employees to combating financial crime. It also said work on the corrective measures required by regulators was well advanced.

The bank said its third-quarter results would include a non-tax-deductible charge of $1.2 billion (£900 million), reducing net income by approximately 17 US cents (12.75p) per share. The enforcement action did not impose a cap on the bank's asset size.

The financial penalty therefore comes alongside continuing compliance obligations. Paying the assessment does not replace the requirement to review past activity and improve the systems used to identify and report potentially illicit transactions.