Bank of America admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act after regulators discovered it failed to report over $5 billion in suspicious transactions on time. While regulators imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties, Sen. Elizabeth Warren demanded the Justice Department clarify by Nov. 12 if it will pursue criminal penalties. Regulators noted that the bank routinely depended on external inquiries rather than its own systems to detect illicit activity, which included over $1 billion linked to Chinese money-laundering groups and the southwest border.
Key points
Regulators determined the institution repeatedly prioritized corporate revenues over comp…: Regulators determined the institution repeatedly prioritized corporate revenues over compliance controls for several years.
The bank admitted to willful anti-money-laundering violations, which legally permits the…: The bank admitted to willful anti-money-laundering violations, which legally permits the federal government to seek criminal penalties.
Despite paying over $1.2 billion in civil fines, the bank faces mounting political pressu…: Despite paying over $1.2 billion in civil fines, the bank faces mounting political pressure for individual executive accountability.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling on the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into Bank of America and its executives after the banking giant admitted it willfully violated federal anti-money-laundering laws, according to a letter first shared with CNBC.
The Massachusetts Democrat and ranking member of the Senate banking committee called the more than $1.2 billion in penalties imposed on the bank Oct. 13 a "slap on the wrist" and urged Attorney General Todd Blanche to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
"The documented violations by Bank of America allowed illicit actors to move billions through the U.S. financial system," Warren wrote.
She gave the DOJ until Nov. 12 to say whether it has already investigated the conduct and, if not, whether it plans to do so.
Bank of America and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The letter comes just over two weeks after Treasury regulators accused the nation's second-largest bank of years of serious compliance failures in one of the largest anti-money-laundering enforcement actions in department history.
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