Bank of America fined over anti-money laundering and sanctions lapses
US regulators have imposed more than US$1.21 billion in penalties on Bank of America over unreported suspicious transactions and 475 apparent sanctions violations.
- Bank of America faces over US$1.21 billion in penalties from US regulators for significant anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance failures.
- The AML lapses included failing to report more than US$5 billion in suspicious transactions due to an inadequate transaction monitoring system.
- A separate US$11.66 million penalty was issued to resolve 475 apparent sanctions violations involving countries such as Russia, Iran, and Belarus.
- The bank admitted to wilfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act and is required to implement corrective measures, including an independent review of past transactions.
Bank of America faces financial penalties totalling more than US$1.21 billion from US regulators over anti-money laundering deficiencies and transactions involving apparent sanctions violations.
The action highlights gaps in the bank’s transaction monitoring and suspicious activity reporting systems.
The US Department of the Treasury announced on Tuesday (October 13, 2026) that the penalty was the third-largest in its enforcement history.
Bank of America admitted wilfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act and is taking steps to remedy the deficiencies in line with regulatory requirements.
More than US$5 billion in suspicious transactions unreported
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imposed a US$1.2 billion fine on Bank of America after finding that it had failed to adequately detect and report financial activity involving major national security risks and illicit finance.
The activity involved Chinese money laundering networks and financial dealings along the southwestern US border.
Regulators said the bank had failed to report more than US$5 billion in suspicious transactions, including more than US$1 billion linked to key risks prioritised by the authorities.
Under its agreement with FinCEN, the bank acknowledged that it had failed to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering system, conduct the required due diligence on foreign banks’ correspondent accounts and file suspicious activity reports.
Bank of America must also engage an independent third party to carry out a retrospective review to identify and report suspicious activity that its systems previously missed.
Record OCC fine
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) imposed a US$750 million fine, the largest in the agency’s history.
However, the US$750 million is included in FinCEN’s US$1.2 billion penalty, rather than being added to it.
Payments to the OCC will be credited against the amount owed to FinCEN.
The OCC said Bank of America’s compliance system remained deficient and ineffective despite an order issued in 2024 requiring it to cease the violations and address the shortcomings.
Weaknesses in transaction monitoring also led to delays in filing suspicious activity reports covering transactions worth billions of US dollars.
475 apparent sanctions violations
Separately, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reached a settlement under which Bank of America agreed to pay US$11.66 million to resolve 475 apparent sanctions violations.
The cases involved sanctions relating to Russia, Belarus, Iran, Myanmar and Somalia, as well as measures targeting drug trafficking and international terrorism.
OFAC identified payments involving banks whose assets were blocked under sanctions, inappropriate prioritisation of alerts and delays in updating watchlists.
Technology investment to address weaknesses
Bank of America said it had worked with regulators to resolve the cases and was addressing the deficiencies.
It had invested billions of US dollars in technology and assigned thousands of employees to combat financial crime.
A spokesperson said the bank took compliance with financial crime prevention rules seriously and had a responsibility to meet those requirements.
The bank said it had made substantial progress and remained committed to completing the measures required by regulators.
Its next priorities are to strengthen transaction detection systems and conduct retrospective reviews to report suspicious activity that previously went undetected.
