OCC fines Bank of America $750 million

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency imposed a $750 million civil penalty on Bank of America, National Association, and a cease and desist order plus a $350 million fine on American Express National Bank. In both cases, the regulator cited deficiencies in Bank Secrecy Act compliance programs, late suspicious activity reports, and failures in controls tied to customers and transfers.

What did the OCC decide against American Express National Bank?

The OCC issued a cease and desist order and a $350 million civil penalty against American Express National Bank for deficiencies in its BSA compliance program, delayed filing of suspicious activity reports, and failures in customer identification and due diligence programs.

The action was announced on October 22, 2026, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The official release does not add, in the material available, any further details on a remediation timeline or specific measures beyond the order and monetary penalty.

What did the OCC say about Bank of America?

The OCC announced a $750 million civil penalty against Bank of America, National Association, for deficiencies in its BSA compliance program, delayed suspicious activity reports, and wire transfers with inaccurate originator information.

According to an analysis by Seiden Law, the action was part of a coordinated package of measures by FinCEN, the OCC and OFAC that topped $1.21 billion in penalties and settlements. That same analysis says the OCC's $750 million amount was credited against FinCEN's sanction, so it should not be counted as an additional full payment.

What background did the Bank of America case establish?

According to Seiden Law, Bank of America was already subject to a cease and desist order issued in December 2024, and more than a year later, the OCC concluded that it had not completed significant corrective steps. The same analysis says monitoring deficiencies left transaction volumes described as trillions of dollars insufficiently reviewed and resulted in numerous late suspicious activity reports, including cases with signs of money laundering.

Volkov Law Group also described the OCC action against Bank of America as the largest penalty ever imposed by that agency on a bank. That characterization comes from an independent analysis and not from the OCC's official release.

Is there any confirmed impact in Latin America?

No specific link to operations or subsidiaries in Latin America was identified in the results. The available material focuses on supervisory and compliance measures in the U.S. financial sector and on the deficiencies detected by the OCC in both banks.

The same batch of sources also included an update to the cybersecurity supervision program for national banks, but the material provided does not connect that point to the sanctions against American Express National Bank or Bank of America.