Bank of America Ordered to Overhaul Anti-Money Laundering Controls

The OCC has issued a cease-and-desist order citing serious compliance deficiencies without imposing monetary penalties.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a cease-and-desist order against Bank of America for failures in its Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs.
Key issues include delays in filing suspicious activity reports, deficiencies in customer due diligence processes, and weak internal controls, governance, and training systems.
The bank will be required to hire an independent consultant to review past actions, enhance compliance protocols, and ensure proper reporting of suspicious activities.
Bank of America disclosed earlier this year that it had been working on addressing these deficiencies and stated that the order is unlikely to have a material financial impact.
This enforcement action follows heightened regulatory scrutiny of major banks' AML practices, with recent penalties imposed on institutions like TD Bank and Wells Fargo.