The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that Bank of America had been fined $1.2 billion (£910 million) for failing to identify possible money laundering and other illicit behaviour. According to the Treasury, the banking behemoth neglected to notify the government of over $5 billion in questionable behaviour, of which $1 billion presented concerns to national security and illegal finance.
According to the Treasury, these mistakes included failing to identify transactions that might have involved trade-based money laundering “with a substantial nexus to the southwest border” or Chinese money laundering networks.Bank of America told the BBC, “Our team is far along with and committed to finishing the work required to address the issues raised by our regulators.”
Less than a day before Bank of America was scheduled to release its quarterly profits on Wednesday morning, the news was made.The bank stated via email, “Our third-quarter results will include a non-tax deductible charge of $1.2 billion impacting net income by approximately 17 cents per share.”It said, “We have already committed a significant amount of staff and resources to our continuing remediation efforts, and those expenses are included in the current expense base. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks.” The fine is the third-largest the department has ever imposed.
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