On December 23, 2024, the OCC issued a cease-and-desist order against Bank of America, N.A. for deficiencies related to its Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions compliance programs. The order requires the bank to take comprehensive corrective actions to enhance its BSA/AML and sanctions compliance programs.
The OCC issued the order based on Bank of America’s violations and unsafe or unsound practices relating to its BSA/AML programs, including a failure to timely file suspicious activity reports and failure to correct a previously identified deficiency related to its Customer Due Diligence processes. The order also identifies deficiencies in the internal controls, governance, independent testing, and training components of the bank’s BSA compliance program. The Bank is required to take corrective actions including the hiring of an independent consultant to assess the bank’s BSA/AML and sanctions compliance programs and conduct lookback reviews to ensure all suspicious activity was appropriately reported.
Read the OCC’s news release here.
The Cease and Desist Order can be found here.