BANK OF AMERICA HAMMERED: $1.2B Fine for Money Laundering, Sanctions Violations...

The US Treasury Department hit Bank of America with penalties exceeding $1.2 billion for systematically failing to detect and report suspicious transactions. The second-largest American bank missed over $5 billion in flagged money flows linked to Chinese criminal networks and illicit cross-border activity, partly because it outsourced detection responsibilities to third parties rather than handling them internally. The combined fines—including the largest penalty ever issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—reflect a rare escalation against a major financial institution and signal intensified federal pressure on banks to strengthen compliance infrastructure against money laundering and sanctions violations.