Bank of America fined $1.2 billion for AML and sanctions violations
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has fined Bank of America over $1.2 billion for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The bank's stock declined following the fine and weaker-than-expected earnings.
Bank of America has been fined over $1.2 billion by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The financial institution failed to report over $5 billion in suspicious activity to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
The penalty, the third largest in Treasury history, includes a $750 million fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for having an ineffective anti-money laundering program. An additional $11.6 million settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) addressed 475 apparent violations of sanctions programs, including those related to Russia, Iran, and international terrorism.
The Treasury stated that over $1 billion of the suspicious activity was related to national security and other priority illicit finance risks. These violations occurred when Bank of America processed correspondent banking payments through blocked banks due to technical and human error.
The fine was announced as Bank of America reported its third-quarter earnings, which fell short of analyst expectations. The bank's stock price dropped more than 8% on Wednesday following the news. Bank of America indicated the fine would impact net income by approximately 17 cents per share.