The US Treasury Department said it is imposing more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America.
The Treasury said in a Tuesday news release that the bank — the country’s second-largest — failed to report over $5 billion in suspicious transactions to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. This included Chinese money-laundering networks along the US’s southwestern border.
It added that the bank had also violated several sanctions programs, “including on Iran, Russia, narcotics, and global terrorism.”
The Treasury did not provide details of when these missteps occurred. Its release said the fine was the third-largest penalty it had imposed in its history.
“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,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release.
“Today’s actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law,” he added.
The Treasury said that the bank lacked trained staff who could monitor suspicious activity. Along with the fine, the Treasury has ordered the bank to work with a third party to identify and report previously undetected suspicious transactions, and to undergo an independent review of its suspicious activity identification.
A BofA spokesperson said in a statement that it is working with regulators on the issue.
“We have invested billions of dollars in technology and dedicated thousands of employees to combat financial crime, and our team is far along with and committed to completing the work required to address the issues raised by our regulators,” a Bank of America spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said that the fine would impact the bank’s upcoming third-quarter earnings, “impacting net income by approximately 17 cents per share.”
Representatives of the Treasury did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
