US Treasury Fines Bank of America Record $1.21 Billion Over Sanctions Violations
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during an event on «Trump Accounts» for kids in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington
The US has imposed more than $1.21 billion in penalties on Bank of America, the second-largest US bank, over major failures in its anti-money-laundering and sanctions-compliance systems, the Department of the Treasury announced.FinCEN said the bank willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act and failed to timely report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions, including over $1 billion involving priority financial-risk categories.
Separately, OFAC reached an $11.66 million settlement over 475 apparent sanctions violations linked to technical and human errors affecting programs covering Russia, Iran and several other jurisdictions and categories. OFAC classified the violations as non-egregious.
“Even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
The irony: Washington’s sanctions machine just landed one of its biggest blows on one of America’s own largest banks.
