OCC Fines Bank of America $750M in Record BSA Penalty
Federal regulators hit Bank of America with the largest civil penalty in OCC history over Bank Secrecy Act violations.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has levied a $750 million civil money penalty against Bank of America, N.A., marking the largest such assessment the agency has ever imposed, the OCC announced Tuesday.
Regulators cited violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations, specifically 12 CFR 21.21 and 12 CFR 21.11, which govern anti-money laundering program requirements and the filing of suspicious activity reports. The BSA framework is the cornerstone of U.S. efforts to prevent financial institutions from being used as conduits for illicit funds.
Read more Fed Takes Enforcement Action Against American Express Over Money Laundering Lapses →
The record-setting fine underscores the OCC's intensifying scrutiny of bank compliance infrastructure. Deficiencies in BSA and anti-money laundering systems have drawn escalating regulatory penalties industry-wide in recent years, as examiners demand stronger internal controls and more rigorous transaction monitoring.
Bank of America, one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, now faces significant pressure to remediate the identified compliance gaps. The scale of the penalty signals that regulators are prepared to impose historically unprecedented consequences for sustained shortcomings in AML frameworks at systemically important banks.
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