Bank of America hit with $1.2 billion anti‑money‑laundering fine by US Treasury

Bank of America has been ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1.2 billion for violations of U.S. anti‑money‑laundering (AML) rules. The penalty was imposed after regulators concluded that the bank’s AML program failed to meet required standards over an extended period.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a cease‑and‑desist order in December 2024, directing the bank to remediate deficiencies in its AML controls. The OCC’s investigation found that more than a year later the bank had not sufficiently escalated potentially suspicious activity to investigators and that a persistent systemic gap remained in its transaction monitoring processes.

According to the OCC, the bank’s monitoring system did not adequately track trillions of dollars in transactions, and key personnel responsible for AML compliance were not properly trained. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) added that compliance staff had raised concerns about possible links to narcotics proceeds, but the bank failed to respond in a timely or meaningful manner.

Regulators identified 475 apparent violations involving a range of jurisdictions and illicit activities, including transactions linked to Russia, Belarus, Iran, Burma, Somalia and narcotics trafficking. The findings suggest that the bank’s internal controls were insufficient to detect and report such activity in accordance with statutory requirements.

The $1.2 billion penalty reflects the severity of the shortcomings identified by both the OCC and FinCEN, and it underscores the expectation that large financial institutions maintain robust, well‑trained AML programs capable of monitoring high‑volume, high‑risk transactions.