Bank of America to Pay $1.2 Billion to Settle Violations of Money Laundering, Sanctions Laws

By jw7w…hh2d October 13, 2026 · Edited October 13, 2026

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Regulators levied a $1.2 billion penalty against Bank of America on Tuesday for failing to properly detect and report illicit financial activities, including money laundering by Chinese underground bankers and suspicious transactions near the U.S. southwest border. Authorities stated the bank did not report more than $5 billion in questionable transactions, some of which presented national security threats. The total fine consists of a record $750 million civil penalty from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for anti-money-laundering failures and an $11.6 million sanction from the Office of Foreign Assets Control for violations related to Iran, Russia, and narcotics. A bank representative confirmed the institution had spent years collaborating with regulators and investing billions in compliance, while noting the charge would reduce third-quarter net income by 17 cents per share.

Background

The Treasury Department’s enforcement action followed a 2024 order mandating that the bank improve its anti-money-laundering systems and conduct internal testing.
Regulators identified specific cases where the bank retained clients involved in fraud and high-risk international wires despite repeated law enforcement inquiries.
In late 2025, federal prosecutors fined TD Bank over $3 billion for allowing a Chinese laundering network to move more than $470 million through its accounts.
Under the new agreement, the bank must engage an external entity to uncover prior suspicious transactions and submit its compliance programs to an outside audit.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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by jw7w…hh2d Oct 13, 2026