Bank of America was fined over $1.2 billion in federal penalties on October 13, 2026, after regulators stated that the bank failed for years to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions and address longstanding anti-money-laundering issues. More than $1 billion of the unreported transactions involved national security risks, including connections to Chinese money-laundering networks and activities related to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a press release from the Treasury Department.
The penalty is the third-largest in Treasury history and comes just before the bank's quarterly earnings report scheduled for the following day. The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) indicated that the bank willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act by not maintaining a compliant anti-money-laundering program, failing to conduct necessary due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts, and not filing suspicious activity reports.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated, "Today's actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law." In a statement to CNBC, Bank of America acknowledged the penalties and noted that it has invested billions in compliance efforts, claiming to be "far along" in remediation. The bank indicated that the penalties would lead to a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge in its third-quarter results, reducing net income by approximately 17 cents per share.
Following the announcement, Bank of America's stock fell by about 2% in after-hours trading. The penalties also highlight the record of CEO Brian Moynihan, who has been in charge since 2010 and has focused on what he describes as "responsible growth" in the wake of past legal and regulatory challenges.
The Treasury's announcement was made in coordination with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which imposed a $750 million civil money penalty on Bank of America, marking the largest penalty ever levied by the OCC. The OCC accused the bank of serious violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and of failing to rectify deficiencies identified in a cease-and-desist order issued in 2024.
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould criticized the bank's compliance program, stating that it reflects widespread breakdowns in internal controls that threaten U.S. national and economic security. The OCC expects all banks to maintain effective compliance programs and warned that failure to do so would result in significant action.
The 2024 order had identified a "breakdown" in the bank's systems for detecting and reporting suspicious activity, including failures to set appropriate thresholds for investigations. Treasury noted that the bank had not addressed red flags involving potential narcotics-trafficking proceeds, fraud, and trade-based money laundering in a timely manner. Additionally, Bank of America will be required to conduct a third-party review of undetected suspicious transactions and undergo independent reviews of its transaction-monitoring and customer due-diligence programs.