Bank of America faces $1.2 billion fine for anti-money laundering compliance failures

Bank of America fined more than $1.21 billion by US regulators for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions rules. Regulators said the behavior protected its own revenue and "effectively outsourced" key parts of compliance work. The enforcement action announced by the US Treasury Department on Tuesday includes a record $750 million civil penalty imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said the settlement with Bank of America involved 475 apparent violations of sanctions rules, involving countries such as Russia and Iran. Regulators also issued a consent order against the bank. Bank of America is scheduled to report third-quarter results before the market opens on Wednesday. The bank said it expects to record $1.2 billion in non-deductible expenses in its results, reducing net profit by about $0.17 per share. Regulators said the bank "prioritized its own revenue and minimized the resources needed to meet compliance requirements," instead relying on investigations by enforcement agencies and requests from other banks to monitor customers. The US Treasury Department said in a statement: "The bank effectively outsourced a significant portion of its proactive detection and reporting obligations to third parties."