Warren Calls on DOJ to Conduct a Criminal Investigation into Bank of America’s Failure to Follow Anti-Money Laundering Laws

Warren Calls on DOJ to Conduct a Criminal Investigation into Bank of America's Failure to Follow Anti-Money Laundering Laws

"I ask the Department of Justice to conduct a full criminal investigation and, if the facts warrant, prosecute the bank and its executives for their failures to follow the law."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, wrote to Attorney General Todd Blanche, calling on him to conduct a full criminal investigation of Bank of America's violation of U.S. anti-money laundering laws and, if the facts warrant, prosecute the bank and its executives for their failures to follow the law.

The letter follows the Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC), and Office of Foreign Assets Control's imposition of a fine of more than $1.21 billion on Bank of America for actions that include a willful violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and a failure to report over $5 billion in suspicious activity.

The BSA requires financial institutions to detect and prevent money laundering. Additionally, both civil and criminal penalties are available for willful violations of the BSA. Ranking Member Warren emphasized that civil monetary penalties are not sufficient to deter large financial institutions from breaking the law.

"Civil fines have become the cost of doing business on Wall Street. The type of penalties imposed by FinCEN and the OCC are not an adequate deterrent nor eliminate the profit incentives for repeated lawbreaking by large financial institutions," wrote the Ranking Member.

Ranking Member Warren noted that Bank of America's conduct is particularly egregious because the bank was previously subject to a cease-and-desist order imposed by the OCC for serious deficiencies in its compliance program and adherence to the Bank Secrecy Act. The misconduct identified in the 2026 enforcement action extends beyond 2024, and the OCC found that the bank has not made sufficient progress in complying with the requirements of the 2024 order.

Ranking Member Warren requested answers to questions about the DOJ's response to Bank of America's violations of the law by November 12, 2026.

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