Bank of America hit with $1.2 billion fine over money laundering failures

Beyond the failure to report Chinese money-laundering activity, the Treasury cited broad violations across multiple sanctions programs, specifically naming Iran, Russia, narcotics trafficking, and global terrorism. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the bank’s internal monitoring deficiencies exposed the entire American financial system to significant risk, emphasizing that no institution remains above regulatory oversight.

The Treasury’s enforcement order mandates that the bank appoint a third party to audit its historical transaction data and overhaul its suspicious activity identification protocols. Investigators noted that the bank lacked sufficient trained personnel to effectively monitor these high-risk flows. In response, a Bank of America spokesperson stated the firm is cooperating with regulators and has already committed billions toward upgrading its financial crime detection technology. The penalty is expected to reduce the bank's third-quarter net income by approximately 17 cents per share.