Bank of America backed crypto AML rules but reported over $5 billion in suspicious activity late

In December 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren asked Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan whether crypto companies handling financial transactions should follow the same anti-money-laundering rules as banks.“Absolutely,” he said. On Oct. 13, Treasury announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties against his bank. FinCEN found that Bank of America admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failed to report over $5 billion in suspicious transactions on time.What regulators found at Bank of AmericaFinCEN assessed $1.2 billion, including the OCC's $750 million penalty, the largest civil money penalty the OCC has assessed against a bank. OFAC separately announced an $11.6 million settlement covering 475 apparent sanctions violations.FinCEN says the bank admitted violations in three areas: its AML program, due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts and the filing of suspicious activity reports.More than $1 billion of the late-reported transactions involved priority illicit-finance and national-security risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and potential trade-based laundering near the southwestern border.The OCC found deficient transaction monitoring across tril...