$1.2 Billion Bank of America Fine Opens Two New Legal Fronts
Key Facts
The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network fined Bank of America $1.2 billion on October 13, 2026, over failures in anti-money laundering controls and reporting security risks, according to the network’s statement. It said the deficiencies included failing to mitigate and report national security risks, including Chinese money-laundering networks and illicit financing along the southwest border. The bank acknowledged, according to the statement, that it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act and failed to implement or maintain an anti-money laundering program that met the law’s minimum requirements. The failures also included not conducting due diligence on correspondent accounts held by foreign financial institutions and not filing reports on suspicious activity. In a parallel action, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency imposed a $750 million civil money penalty, which it described as the largest in its history, for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its regulations.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency tied its action to a cease-and-desist order issued in December 2024, which required the bank to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering program. The agency said that more than a year after the order, the bank was still failing to escalate potentially suspicious activity to investigators for review. It added that a systematic gap in transaction monitoring allowed potential trade-based money-laundering transactions to be processed. The earlier order, issued on December 23, 2024, required comprehensive corrective measures, including the appointment of an independent consultant to review the bank’s anti-money laundering and sanctions programs. Those measures also included reviewing suspicious activity to ensure it was reported. Senator Elizabeth Warren said the violations identified in the 2026 action extended beyond the 2024 order and that the bank had made insufficient progress toward compliance.
Warren asked the Justice Department to conduct a full criminal investigation into the bank’s failures, saying the bank and its executives should be prosecuted if the facts warrant it. She did not say the department had already opened an investigation; her request calls on it to examine the case and decide based on what emerges. Warren cited the fact that the regulatory actions followed the bank’s failure to report more than $5 billion in suspicious activity, according to a statement from the Senate Banking Committee. She asked the department to respond to her questions about its handling of the violations by November 12, 2026. That deadline puts the department’s response to the senator’s letter at the center of the next developments, while the request for an investigation remains separate from the penalties imposed by regulators.
On the civil front, law firm Hagens Berman announced on October 19 that a securities class action had been filed in federal court against the bank and some of its senior officials. The lawsuit alleges violations of federal securities laws; these are claims in the investors’ case, not a court ruling. It is also separate from the bank’s regulatory admission that it violated the Bank Secrecy Act and from Warren’s request for a criminal investigation. The bank therefore faces two distinct legal tracks following the regulatory actions: a political call for a possible investigation and civil claims filed by investors. The available facts include neither a ruling in the lawsuit nor a Justice Department decision to open an investigation.
Third-quarter 2026 results showed net income of $6.9 billion and diluted earnings per share of $0.91, compared with $8.3 billion and $1.04 per share in the same period of 2025. The bank said the $1.2 billion fine expense reduced quarterly earnings per share, while Reuters reported that the stock fell more than 8% after the results were announced, reaching its lowest price since May. Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick attributed weakness in the fixed-income and currencies units to lower client activity and changing market conditions, including a significant shift in interest rates. The bank said in a statement carried by Reuters that it had reassigned some employees to address issues raised by regulators and had completed a substantial amount of work to resolve the problems. Near-term developments remain tied to the Justice Department’s response, due by November 12, as well as the next court steps in the class action.