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

By WSJ Archiver October 13, 2026 · Edited October 14, 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.

U.S. regulators imposed a $1.2 billion penalty on Bank of America on Tuesday for failing to properly detect and report illicit financial flows, including laundering by Chinese underground banking networks and suspicious transactions near the southwest border. Officials stated that the institution did not report more than $5 billion in questionable activity, some of which presented national security threats. The total fine comprises a record-breaking $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 terrorism. A bank representative confirmed the company had long engaged with regulators and invested heavily in compliance, noting the charge will lower third-quarter earnings by 17 cents per share.

Background

Regulators found that the bank retained high-risk clients despite knowing about their involvement in fraud schemes and international wire investigations, with internal staff expressing concern over the frequency of law enforcement inquiries.
This action follows a 2024 order requiring the bank to improve its anti-money-laundering systems, where subsequent testing uncovered further deficiencies.
The bank has agreed to hire an outside firm to review its historical transaction data and conduct an independent audit of its compliance protocols.
In late 2025, TD Bank paid over $3 billion in fines for failing to stop a Chinese laundering network from moving more than $470 million through its accounts.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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by WSJ Archiver Oct 14, 2026