Bank of America to pay $1.21 billion to settle money-laundering and sanctions violations; shares fall ~2-3% after hours
What happened
The U.S. Treasury Department announced Tuesday, October 13 that Bank of America will pay $1.21 billion in penalties to settle anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations. The package includes a $1.2 billion FinCEN civil money penalty (with a $750 million credit toward a separate OCC penalty) plus an $11.6 million OFAC settlement. Treasury said the bank failed to report over $5 billion in suspicious transactions, including about $1 billion with national-security implications, and committed more than 475 sanctions violations between September 2021 and April 2025, including processing over $14.3 million through 35 blocked banks. Bank of America admitted it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act. Shares fell about 2-3% in after-hours trading.
Why it matters & what’s next are part of Pro, along with the audio summary.
Start your free 14-day trialWho’s affected
- Bank of America (BAC) — direct penalty, Q3 earnings charge, and reputational/regulatory overhang
- Large-cap banks broadly (JPM, WFC, C, GS, MS) — renewed scrutiny of AML/sanctions compliance programs and remediation costs
- Banking sector / KBW Bank Index — sentiment read-through during earnings season