Federal regulators hit Bank of America with historic penalties over years of anti-money laundering failures
The Treasury Department announced approximately $1.21 billion in penalties against Bank of America over longstanding anti-money laundering failures and U.S. sanctions violations.
Regulators found the bank failed to adequately investigate trillions of dollars in potentially suspicious transactions despite knowing about significant compliance deficiencies.
The action includes the largest penalty in the history of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the third-largest in the history of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
FinCEN assessed a $1.2 billion penalty against the nation’s second-largest bank, which includes credit for a $750 million civil penalty imposed by the OCC. A separate $11.6 million settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) brings the combined penalties to approximately $1.21 billion.
They had no problem voluntarily handing over info to the FBI about customers on Jan 6, but they can’t police their own transactions with foreign money launderers.