Bank of America Fined $1.2 Billion for Anti-Money Laundering Failures

Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the United States, has been fined $1.2 billion for serious shortcomings in its anti-money laundering controls and the reporting of suspicious financial transactions. According to the US Treasury Department, the bank failed to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of the US Treasury Department, said the bank failed to meet its obligations to identify and report money laundering and national security risks in a timely manner. The investigation found that more than $1 billion of the unreported transactions were associated with national security concerns and other high-priority financial crime risks.

A $750 million portion of the penalty was imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The US Treasury Department described it as one of the largest penalties ever imposed by a federal banking regulator.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that weaknesses in the monitoring systems of major financial institutions could expose not only the banks themselves but also the entire US financial system to the risks of illicit financing.

In addition, Bank of America reached an $11.6 million settlement with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The settlement concerns alleged violations of sanctions programs related to Iran and Russia, drug trafficking, and international terrorism.

Bank of America stated that combating financial crime remains one of its top priorities. The bank said it had cooperated with regulators, invested billions of dollars in technology to prevent financial crime, and continued working to address the identified shortcomings.

The case comes amid major financial penalties imposed as part of the US campaign against money laundering. In 2023, cryptocurrency exchange Binance reached a settlement worth approximately $4.3 billion with US authorities. Canada’s TD Bank agreed to pay approximately $3 billion in 2024 in connection with violations of US anti-money laundering requirements.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to implement adequate measures to prevent money laundering on the platform. In October 2025, US President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao.

The action against Bank of America once again highlights the strict scrutiny US regulators place on major financial institutions’ obligations to detect and report suspicious transactions and comply with international sanctions.