Sorry folks, we paid $1.2B regulatory settlements no bonus/pay hike for you
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What happened to Bill Fox? Did they make him a scapegoat and show him the door? Or did he quietly dodge a silver bullet by retiring of his own choice in the nick of time?
(not sarcastic, genuine question)
Surely someone (or several) need to be held accountable in some way...?
the October 2026 $1.21 billion fine against Bank of America (BAC) fits into a broader historical pattern of the bank struggling with systemic operational control issues. However, it marks a critical pivot in what regulators are penalizing.
While Bank of America's history is defined by massive post-2008 consumer and mortgage abuses, this action represents an unprecedented escalation in its anti-money laundering (AML) and national security compliance track record.
- Shift from Consumer Abuse to National Security Failures
Historically, BAC's largest regulatory penalties targeted mortgage fraud, investor deception, and consumer banking "junk fees".
• The Historical Baseline: BAC's largest penalties include the historic $16.65 billion mortgage settlement in 2014, a $747 million CFPB fine in 2014 for deceptive credit card practices, and hundreds of millions in joint CFPB/OCC fines in 2023 for illegal junk fees and fake accounts.
• The 2026 Shift: The $1.21 billion penalty is explicitly anchored in willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Regulators shifted their focus from how the bank treats consumers to how its internal compliance gaps directly threatened U.S. national and economic security (e.g., failing to report Chinese money laundering networks and southwest border trade fraud).
- A Escalation of the "Repeat Offender" Narrative
The most severe element of the 2026 enforcement actions is the bank's documented inaction following prior regulatory warnings.
• The December 2024 Cease-and-Desist Order: In December 2024, the OCC issued a formal cease-and-desist order mandating that BAC clean up its deficient transaction monitoring and historical Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) reviews.
• Widespread Internal Breakdowns: According to the OCC, bank management minimized the program's flaws and failed to prioritize compliance. More than a year after the 2024 order, the bank was still failing to escalate suspicious activity to its own investigators, allowing systemic gaps to persist.
• Record-Breaking Responses: Because BAC failed to adequately respond to the 2024 order, the OCC levied a $750 million civil money penalty. This stands as the largest penalty in the history of the OCC, explicitly triggered by institutional inaction.
- Placing BAC Among its Peers
For years, Bank of America managed to avoid the massive AML penalties that hit its domestic and international rivals. This fine officially places BAC in the same regulatory penalty bracket as other global institutions penalized for compliance failures:
Institution Fine Amount Primary Violations Year
Binance $3.4 Billion AML & Sanctions Deficiencies 2023
TD Bank $1.3 Billion Systemic AML Monitoring Failures 2024
Bank of America $1.21 Billion Willful BSA Violations & Inaction 2026
HSBC $1.9 Billion Cartel Money Laundering 2012
The Ultimate Impact
Historically, Wall Street treated BAC's consumer fines as an expensive but manageable "cost of doing business." The 2026 fine changes the investment narrative. Because the bank ignored the 2024 order, it is now forced into intensive, court-mandated independent third-party remediation. This is expected to drive up operational compliance expenses for years, directly straining the bank's ability to maintain flat operating leverage.
and on top of profiling, wanted to add, the models for our activity are not calibrated correctly so that's the other major issue why we got fined so big. we deserve it, believe me.
who caused it? hahah... seriously? data & tech are this bank's weakness and proper ML risk management requires both. as someone who has eyewitnessed the AML on the commercial side for 10+ years this has been coming for as long easily. Bill Fox? Hello? our only saving grace yet had to hand the reins. its an embarrassment as the bank of 'AMERICA' we can't manage basic American AML requirements for so long, BAC deserves what it gets. However, many could've whisteblown and didn't. damn. sorry I missed that comp.
when you login and a bank/credit card asks you to confirm your info/update if needed that is AML program. our BofA website just started to figure out how to do this in 2025 and can't quite do it right. that's profiling, then there's models for monitoring activity. if you don't profile right the model will never sp-t out something reasonable. we can't onboard properly because of our old tech & data which has been underinvested in since at least the merger with Merrill. basic. basic. basic. sad. sad. sad. I hope I see the names let go that I expect to...
@10r it was me. I caused it. Single-handedly. Just got a promotion.
1.2billion in regulatory settlements? Who caused this? Did any heads roll for this?
Gives mngt an easy excuse to not pay us.
(totally their fault - as always - eye off the ball)
They always have some excuse. This gives them an easy out and makes the script easy for managers to parrot.
Goose egg for the rest of us.
He completely glossed over this in the earnings call. Such a joke
“But we feel like we still deserve hefty compensation this year because capitalism something something.” - C Suite, probably