The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has assessed a $750 million civil money penalty against Bank of America, N.A. over failures in its anti-money-laundering program, the largest amount in the agency’s history, according to the OCC’s October 13 news release. The money goes to the U.S. Treasury, not to customers. Bank of America is also facing a separate $1.2 billion penalty from the Treasury Department’s FinCEN, which credits the OCC amount.
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould called the bank’s response to its Bank Secrecy Act deficiencies “unacceptable.” He added that banks with ineffective programs “can expect swift and significant action from the OCC.”
What the OCC says Bank of America got wrong
The OCC says a deficient transaction-monitoring system left the bank unable to properly watch trillions of dollars in transactions. It also says the bank filed many late suspicious activity reports involving billions of dollars, and that many of those showed signs of money laundering. According to the agency, the bank knew for years that it was not escalating potentially suspicious activity and did not fix it.
The release also points to a December 2024 cease-and-desist order that already required the bank to repair its program. More than a year later, the OCC says, the bank still had not escalated potentially suspicious activity for review and had processed potential trade-based money laundering transactions because of a gap in its monitoring systems.
What a fine like this does and does not mean for deposits
The OCC release does not discuss customer impact, and it mentions no restitution or refunds to account holders. Nothing in it says deposits are at risk or that accounts are frozen or restricted. The practical effect for an ordinary checking or savings customer, on the face of the order, is that the bank owes the government money and must overhaul its compliance program.
The question for a saver is narrower than the size of the fine. Does every dollar at this bank, or any bank, sit inside deposit insurance? The standard insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category, according to the FDIC’s deposit insurance page. Coverage applies automatically when a deposit account is opened at an FDIC-insured bank, and no one has to buy it.
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For someone holding a few thousand dollars in checking, the limit is nowhere in sight. For a retiree who rolled a lump sum into a savings account or a stack of CDs at a single bank, it can be. Balances above $250,000 in one ownership category at one bank are not covered by the standard amount, and joint accounts, individual accounts and retirement accounts are counted in separate categories. Anyone whose combined balance at one bank is near or above the limit has a reason to check it today, whatever the bank in the headlines happens to be.
A consent order, not a criminal case
Staffing and oversight drew criticism too. The OCC says the bank’s Bank Secrecy Act officer and staff lacked sufficient skills and expertise, that key personnel were not properly trained, and that the internal audit function missed long-standing problems that examiners later found.
The penalty comes through a consent order with the bank’s board of directors. The document says the bank neither admits nor denies the Comptroller’s findings and gives up its rights to a hearing and to administrative or judicial review. Payment is due when the order is executed, by wire transfer under OCC instructions. The order cites violations of the OCC’s rules on anti-money-laundering programs and suspicious activity reporting, along with two Treasury rules on correspondent-account due diligence and the Travel Rule.
That is a civil regulatory action. The OCC release does not describe criminal charges. Treasury’s announcement of the actions states that in its FinCEN resolution the bank admits it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act, which is a separate agency’s civil penalty with its own findings.
Neither the OCC release nor the Treasury announcement carries a statement from Bank of America. Secretary Scott Bessent said in the Treasury announcement that financial institutions “are on the front lines of protecting our economic and national security.” Treasury also lists an approximately $11.6 million sanctions settlement with its Office of Foreign Assets Control.
What the two penalties add up to
The OCC and FinCEN amounts are not additive. The OCC release states that FinCEN’s $1.2 billion penalty credits the OCC’s $750 million, so the bank is not paying $1.95 billion across those two. Treasury’s announcement puts the combined penalties at more than $1.21 billion once the OFAC settlement is counted.
FinCEN is also requiring remedial action. Treasury says that includes a third-party lookback to identify and report suspicious transactions that went undetected, and independent reviews of the bank’s monitoring, customer due diligence and data governance. The 2024 cease-and-desist order remains in place.
For customers, the visible changes, if any, would come from tighter compliance work such as more questions about account activity or source of funds. Neither agency has said any account holder must do anything. Anyone who receives a letter or call about their account claiming to be tied to these penalties should be wary, since no agency announcement asks customers to act.
Is every dollar at your bank inside the insurance limit?
A record fine makes headlines, but the thing that decides whether a saver loses money if a bank ever fails is the insurance limit, and many households never total what sits at one bank across checking, savings and CDs. A balance that crept past $250,000 in a single ownership category is the kind of mistake that stays invisible until it matters.
“Make Your Savings Pay You” covers “every dollar insured, even above $250,000 at one bank,” and walks through the cash map worksheet that lists what is held where and what each account earns now. It also lays out insured high-yield savings and Treasury bills from $100, so cash that sits idle can earn more.
Map every dollar’s insurance with the Make Your Savings Pay You guide →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
