Bank of America Hit With $1.21 Billion Fine Over Money-Laundering Controls
U.S. regulators have fined Bank of America $1.21 billion for failing to detect and report potential money laundering and other illicit activity.
The action was reported on Oct. 14, 2026. The Treasury Department described it as the third-largest penalty in department history. The Guardian
What regulators found
The core allegation is unreported suspicious activity. The Treasury Department said the bank failed to report more than $5 billion in suspicious activity to the government. Of that amount, it said $1 billion posed national security-related and other priority illicit finance risks.
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, the U.S. anti-money-laundering law, banks must send the government suspicious activity reports when transactions may be criminal. Like a smoke alarm wired to the fire station, the reports do not prove a crime but alert investigators. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, in a penalty titled 'FinCEN Assesses $1.2 Billion Penalty against Bank of America', described the bank's Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance program as deficient and ineffective. Its consent order, a binding settlement, states that grounds exist to impose a Civil Money Penalty against Bank of America, N.A. for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN
Three agencies acted together. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the supervisor for large national banks, levied a $750 million civil penalty, the largest ever for that regulator. It cited failure to address anti-money-laundering shortcomings named in a 2024 cease-and-desist order, a formal order to correct violations. In enforcement document EA AA-ENF-2026-41, the OCC found the bank was failing to file suspicious activity reports on about 18%-44% of potentially suspicious activities. OCC
The examination period covered conduct that left a large share of potentially reportable transactions without a filing. The OCC described the action as addressing deficient BSA/AML compliance. Its news release is numbered NR OCC 2026-89.
A separate sanctions penalty
A separate part involved sanctions, rules that block money flows to targeted countries and groups. Bank of America paid an $11.6 million fine to the Office of Foreign Assets Control for over 400 apparent violations of sanctions programs. The Treasury Department said the bank mistakenly processed millions of dollars in payments violating sanctions programs targeting countries including Russia and Iran.
What the bank must do next
The consent order requires a look back. The bank must hire an independent third party to review past transactions and report previously undetected suspicious activity to FinCEN. FinCEN lists the action as 'In the Matter of Bank of America, N.A.', dated 10/13/2026 and numbered 2026-03, categorized under Depository Institutions and linked to the file BoA-Consent-Order-Execution-Final.pdf.
Bank of America said its third-quarter results would include a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge reducing quarterly net income by approximately 17 cents per share. Shares fell 2.7% in after-hours trading after closing down 1.1% on the day the fine was announced.
The broader context here is coordination across illicit finance and sanctions authorities. FinCEN is addressing BSA reporting failures, the OCC is addressing supervision and remediation after the prior order, and OFAC is addressing sanctions execution. That combination creates a possible second wave of compliance risk, because a third-party review can produce additional suspicious activity reports, additional supervisory follow-up, and additional exposure in correspondent and clearing relationships where sanctions screening failed. The reference to national security-related and priority illicit finance risks also places the case within the part of BSA enforcement most closely watched by policymakers focused on cross-border flows involving Russia and Iran.
