Bank of America profit falls to $6.9 billion on weak trading, settlement

Key Facts

Bank of America reported on October 14, 2026 that third-quarter net income fell to $6.9 billion from $8.3 billion a year earlier, as a regulatory settlement and weaker trading revenue weighed on results. Reported earnings per share were $0.91, compared with $1.04 in the same period a year earlier, according to the bank's earnings statement. The regulatory settlement reduced earnings per share by $0.17 during the quarter. Excluding its impact, adjusted net income was $8.1 billion, leaving profit below its year-earlier level. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.08, below analysts' estimate of $1.10, according to Investing.com.

Revenue, net of interest expense, totaled $30.0 billion, compared with $29.0 billion in the corresponding quarter, according to the bank's financial statement. Sales and trading revenue, however, declined 5% year on year. Revenue from those activities totaled $5.1 billion during the quarter, according to the investor presentation. In investment banking, fees across the bank fell 11% from the same period a year earlier. Those fees reached $1.8 billion, excluding self-led deals, as the business lost momentum alongside weaker trading.

Net interest income, meanwhile, rose 8% year on year to $16.4 billion, according to the bank's investor presentation. The annual increase in that income was $1.2 billion in the third quarter. On a fully taxable-equivalent basis, net interest income totaled $16.6 billion. The bank attributed the growth to higher loan and deposit balances, alongside increased interest income related to Global Markets activities. It also attributed part of the increase to the repricing of fixed-rate assets, as trading revenue and investment banking fees declined.

The results followed penalties announced by regulators on October 13, 2026, including a $1.2 billion fine imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. As part of its settlement with the agency, the bank admitted that it "willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act," according to the regulator's statement. The fine includes a $750 million penalty imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC said its fine against the bank was the largest in its history. The OCC penalty thus counts toward the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network fine, while the bank reached a separate settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the bank failed to report suspicious activity worth more than $5 billion. According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the failures included not mitigating or reporting national security risks. Those risks included Chinese money laundering networks, according to the agency's settlement statement. They also included illicit financing activities along the southwest border among the risks addressed by the regulatory actions. The bank was already subject to a cease-and-desist order issued in December 2024 to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering program, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The separate settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control totaled $11,662,930, according to the agency's announcement. The settlement covers the bank's potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions programs. It covered 475 apparent violations, according to the statement issued on October 13, 2026. The agency classified those violations as non-egregious in its assessment of the case. It also noted, however, that the bank had not voluntarily self-disclosed most of them, a characterization included in its announcement of the settlement of potential civil liability.

Bank of America shares closed at $51.39 in the earnings session, according to EL7 platform data. The October 14, 2026 close was below the $53.96 recorded in the previous session. On remediation obligations, the settlement order requires the bank to work with a third party to conduct a lookback review, according to the Treasury Department. The review aims to identify previously undetected suspicious transactions and report them to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as part of the settlement obligations. The bank set Friday, January 15, 2027 as the date for reporting fourth-quarter 2026 results.