Bank of America backed crypto AML rules but reported over $5 billion in suspicious activity late
Treasury agencies announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America, including a $1.2 billion FinCEN assessment that incorporates a $750 million OCC penalty, plus an $11.6 million OFAC settlement. The bank admitted Bank Secrecy Act violations involving its anti-money-laundering program, foreign correspondent-account checks and delayed suspicious-activity reports. More than $5 billion in transactions were reported late; that figure is not a confirmed amount of laundered money. The findings cite weak monitoring, staffing, training and remediation, with some late reports involving high-priority illicit-finance risks. The action contrasts with CEO Brian Moynihan’s 2023 support for applying bank-level AML rules to crypto firms. It may intensify debate over consistent enforcement and broader AML obligations for exchanges, custodians and stablecoin markets.
