FinCEN fines Bank of America $1.2 billion over AML and suspicious activity reporting failures
FinCEN assessed a $1.2 billion penalty against Bank of America, N.A., which admits it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN's release says the OCC and OFAC also took action against the bank.
On October 13, 2026, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the US Treasury bureau that enforces the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), assessed a $1.2 billion penalty against Bank of America, N.A. FinCEN links the action to the bank's failure to mitigate and report priority national security risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and illicit finance along the southwest border.
FinCEN's consent order covers conduct from at least January 1, 2018 through July 1, 2025. The order describes missed and delayed detection and reporting by the bank of over $5 billion of suspicious activity. According to the order, a 2024 lookback found that the bank had failed to identify and file nearly 8,900 suspicious activity reports (SARs), with transaction activity totaling nearly $4 billion. The order also says the bank filed a material portion of its SARs more than six months after the relevant activity took place.
The order says the activity included transactions indicative of Chinese Money Laundering Networks (CMLNs), fraud and potential trade-based money laundering (TBML), which is moving value through trade deals to hide its source. FinCEN's order describes weaknesses including for high-risk customers in the online auto auction industry, including a customer whose online auto auction platform connected sellers of salvaged vehicles sourced in the United States with domestic and international buyers.
Bank of America admits that it willfully violated the BSA. FinCEN says the bank failed to maintain an AML program that met the minimum requirements of the BSA, failed to conduct due diligence for correspondent accounts for foreign financial institutions, and failed to file SARs. FinCEN's release also states that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) assessed a $750 million civil money penalty over a deficient and ineffective BSA/AML compliance program, and that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced an $11.6 million settlement with the bank over apparent violations of sanctions programs including those on Iran, Russia, narcotics and global terrorism. The OCC's own release and Treasury's announcement could not be accessed.
Why it matters to AML professionals
Late SARs and missed alerts can lead to large penalties even years after the activity took place. Trade-linked businesses such as vehicle exporters and auction sellers need customer due diligence that matches their real risk. AML professionals should expect regulators to test whether priority threats named in national guidance show up in monitoring and reporting.
Red flags in this case
- Customers in vehicle auction or export businesses receiving funds from unrelated third parties
- Payments for goods that do not match the customer's stated business, volume or trade routes
- Rapid movement of funds through accounts with cross-border trade links and little stated purpose
- Activity patterns consistent with known money laundering network typologies named in regulator advisories
If this landed in your queue
- Check that the customer's due diligence file explains the source of funds and the trade flows behind the activity
- Compare payers and beneficiaries against the customer's stated suppliers and buyers
- Escalate to enhanced due diligence when the customer operates in a sector the bank rates as high risk
- Track SAR decision timelines so filings are not delayed beyond regulatory deadlines
What control failed
Suspicious activity reporting. FinCEN's order describes missed and delayed detection and reporting of over $5 billion of suspicious activity, with a material portion of SARs filed more than six months after the activity.
Key terms
- SAR lookback
- A review of past transactions to find suspicious activity that should have been reported but was not.
- Trade-based money laundering (TBML)
- Hiding the source of money by moving value through trade, such as misdescribed or mispriced goods.
- Correspondent account due diligence
- Checks a US bank must perform on accounts it holds for foreign banks.
Interview angle
What would you do if a lookback found thousands of unfiled SARs?
Explain that you would prioritise the highest-risk cases for filing, find the root cause in monitoring or case handling, fix thresholds and staffing, and report the issue to senior management and regulators as required.
Sources
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