Bank of America Mandated to Pay $1.2 Billion Fine Over Alleged Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Violations
Wanjiru Waweru, Jadetimes Contributor
W. Waweru is a Jadetimes News Reporter Covering Business News
Bank of America was ordered on Tuesday, October 13, to pay $1.2 billion to the Treasury Department for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.
According to the agency, “the penalty is the third largest ever issued in Treasury history.” As part of the settlement, the bank was charged $750 million by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the largest fine it has ever received.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared a statement.
“Today’s actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law,” said Bessent.
As the second-largest bank in the country, Bank of America has over 70 million clients and processes about $4.5 trillion in payments for individual customers every year.
Additionally, the bank deals $450 trillion in payments for corporate customers, such as payrolls, corporate credit cards, and supplier payments.
The Treasury Department shared a statement.
“Bank of America failed to timely report to FinCEN over 5 billion dollars in suspicious transactions, with over $1 billion of this activity implicating national security-related and other priority illicit finance risks, including suspicious transactions indicative of Chinese Money Laundering Networks, fraud, and potential trade-based money laundering with a substantial nexus to the southwest border.”
FinCEN is the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which combats money laundering, illicit financial activity, and terrorist financing networks around the world.
Bank of America addressed this issue on NBC News.
“Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right. “We have invested billions of dollars in technology and dedicated thousands of employees to combat financial crime, and our team is far along with and committed to completing the work required to address the issues raised by our regulators. We will continue to support federal and local law enforcement across thousands of investigations and report hundreds of thousands of suspicious activity reports each year.”
In accordance with the FinCEN violations, the Treasury Department explained the consequences for Bank of America – “its potential civil liability for 475 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs” with the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which manages widespread U.S. sanctions.
“The company processed millions of dollars in payments in apparent violation of sanctions programs targeting Russia, Belarus, Iran, Burma, Somalia, narcotics, and global terrorism,” said the Treasury Department.
“When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant illicit finance risks,” said Bassent.
Bank of America documented its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, October 14.
About Wanjiru Waweru
Wanjiru Waweru is a Jadetimes Contributor. You can email Wanjiru at sellmypaperwork@gmail.com.
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