Bank of America pays more than $1.2 billion over money-laundering and sanctions failures
The U.S. government hit Bank of America with penalties totaling more than $1.2 billion for failing to police suspicious activity and for violating money-laundering and sanctions law, Reuters, ABC News, NBC News, CNBC, Bloomberg, AP, The Hill and the New York Post reported. The Hill said the Treasury was among the authorities. FinancialJuice relayed that the case involved Russia, Iran and other nations, and that a non-tax-deductible charge will cut third-quarter earnings by 17 cents a share. FinancialJuice also relayed an $11.66 million settlement with Treasury’s sanctions office. The New York Times headline put the payment at $1.8 billion. We use the lower, wider-reported figure and could not reconcile the difference.
Banks are the front line against money laundering and sanctions evasion. A penalty of this size tells other banks that regulators are checking the controls, and it lands as banks report quarterly results.
Customers see no change. Shareholders will look for the charge in the bank’s results.
The $1.2 billion and $1.8 billion figures may count different penalties. Wait for the bank’s filing, which will list each component, before quoting either.
DailyDrop U.S. No. 10 · October 14, 2026