Bank of America Hit With $1.2 Billion FinCEN Penalty, $750 Million of It Credited to OCC Fine, Plus $11.7 Million OFAC Settlement
ANALYSIS · October 14, 2026
Slug: treasury-bank-of-america-aml-sanctions-penalties
Package note: This analyzes three Treasury documents dated October 13, 2026: the Treasury press release (sb0657), FinCEN Consent Order No. 2026-03, and OFAC’s enforcement release. They are civil enforcement actions, not criminal charges. Bank of America admitted the FinCEN statement of facts and agreed to “willfulness” only in the civil BSA sense. The OFAC matter is a settlement of apparent violations with no finding of liability. The OCC’s own order was not reviewed here; its figures come from the Treasury release and the FinCEN order.
Primary sources
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, “U.S. Treasury Announces Record Enforcement Actions Against Bank of America” (sb0657, Oct. 13, 2026): https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0657
- FinCEN, Consent Order Imposing Civil Money Penalty, In the Matter of Bank of America, N.A., No. 2026-03: https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-10/BoA-Consent-Order-Execution-Final.pdf
- OFAC, Enforcement Release, “Bank of America, N.A. Settles with OFAC for $11,662,930…” (Oct. 13, 2026): https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/937231/download?inline
Treasury announced penalties of more than $1.21 billion against Bank of America for anti-money-laundering and sanctions failures. FinCEN imposed a $1.2 billion civil money penalty, the OCC assessed $750 million, and OFAC settled for $11,662,930. Under the FinCEN order, the $750 million paid to the OCC is credited against FinCEN’s penalty, so the bank pays FinCEN $450 million.
Core Tension
The release lists a $1.2 billion FinCEN penalty and a $750 million OCC penalty side by side, which read like nearly $2 billion. The actual combined total is about $1.21 billion, because FinCEN credits the $750 million OCC payment against its own penalty (Consent Order, p. 66–67). That is consistent with Treasury’s “more than $1.21 billion” headline figure but easy to misread. The underlying findings are serious: over $5 billion in suspicious transactions not reported to FinCEN on time, with over $1 billion tied to priority risks such as Chinese money laundering networks and possible trade-based laundering near the southwest border, during a period running from at least January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2025. For scale, the FinCEN order puts the bank’s most recent annual net income at about $30.5 billion.
What the actions do
| Element | What the documents state |
|---|---|
| FinCEN penalty | $1,200,000,000 civil money penalty; $750,000,000 OCC payment credited; $450,000,000 payable to Treasury |
| FinCEN admissions | Bank admits the statement of facts; admits willfulness only in the civil BSA sense |
| FinCEN violations | Failure to maintain an adequate AML program, to conduct due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts, and to file SARs |
| FinCEN undertakings | Third-party SAR lookback; independent reviews of suspicious-activity monitoring, customer due diligence, correspondent-account due diligence and AML data governance, with focus on the southwest border/cartels/narcotics, Iran and Russia |
| OCC penalty | $750 million civil money penalty for a deficient BSA/AML program; the bank is also under a December 2024 OCC cease-and-desist order that, per Treasury, it still had not fully met |
| OFAC settlement | $11,662,930 for 475 apparent violations (Sept. 18, 2021 – Apr. 24, 2025) worth about $14.8 million, involving Russia, Belarus, Iran, Burma, Somalia, narcotics and terrorism programs |
| OFAC penalty basis | Non-egregious; 413 violations not voluntarily disclosed, 62 disclosed; no reduction from the base penalty |
Claims check
| Claim | Assessment | Receipt |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties total more than $1.21 billion | Accurate | $1.2B FinCEN (incl. $750M OCC credit) + $11.66M OFAC |
| Third-largest penalty in Treasury history; largest in OCC history | Stated by Treasury | Release subhead; no comparison table provided |
| Over $5 billion in suspicious activity not timely reported | Stated in the FinCEN order | Admitted statement of facts |
| Bank of America is the second-largest U.S. bank | Stated in the FinCEN order | About $2.7 trillion in total assets |
| OFAC penalty amount | Note | The FinCEN order refers to an OFAC “$11,000,000 penalty”; OFAC’s own release gives $11,662,930. We use OFAC’s figure. |
How coverage splits
Not reviewed for this analysis.
Context / what to watch
- SAR lookback: A third-party consultant is to be hired within 30 days, with its review due on a schedule set by the order.
- OCC order: The OCC’s own consent order was not reviewed here; its text would show any further requirements.
- Whistleblower program: Treasury noted FinCEN’s whistleblower awards apply to actions with penalties over $1 million.
Publish-ready ANALYSIS · written by KVOp from Treasury, FinCEN and OFAC primary documents · 2026-10-14 · for /analysis/treasury-bank-of-america-aml-sanctions-penalties