US Bank Pleads Guilty and Fines $1.2 Billion for Violating Sanctions Related to Iran, Russia, and Terrorism
The Treasury Department announced on the 13th that it would impose a $1.2 billion fine on Bank of America—the second-largest bank in the U.S.—for alleged violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws; this marks the third-largest fine in the department’s history. Bank of America also reached an $11.6 million settlement with the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding “apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs, including those targeting Iran, Russia, narcotics trafficking, and global terrorism.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated: “When a bank of this magnitude fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond the institution itself, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant illicit finance risks. Today’s action sends a clear message: no financial institution, however large, is above the law.”
The Treasury Department stated that its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imposed the $1.2 billion fine because the bank “failed to mitigate and report significant national security risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and illicit financial activities along the southwest border.” Of the $1.2 billion total, $750 million will be paid to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); this represents the largest fine ever issued by that federal banking regulator.
The Treasury Department noted that Bank of America “admitted to willfully violating” the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, a law requiring banks to assist the government in detecting and preventing money laundering activities. Bank of America stated: “Compliance with financial crime regulations is critical, and we have a responsibility to ensure such compliance. We have worked with regulators to reach a settlement regarding the violations cited in the previously announced 2024 consent order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the FinCEN investigation.”
This penalty marks the third-largest fine ever imposed by the Treasury Department, trailing only the approximately $4 billion settlement reached in 2023 with Binance—the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange—and the roughly $3 billion settlement reached the following year with Canada’s TD Bank. Both of these historic enforcement actions took place against the backdrop of the Biden administration’s focus on anti-money laundering efforts and its push to bring the then-emerging virtual currency industry into regulatory compliance.