Bank of America stock faces DOJ probe push over AML failures

Published on 10/30/2026 at 11:16 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS

Bank of America stock faces a fresh regulatory risk after Elizabeth Warren urged a DOJ criminal probe. The bank says remediation is advancing.

Regulatory pressure intensifies

Elizabeth Warren asked the Justice Department to assess possible criminal charges against Bank of America and its executives.
The request follows more than USD 1.2 billion in civil penalties tied to anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations.
The DOJ is expected to clarify its position by November 12, 2026.

Bank of America, US0605051046, Illustration mit AI erstellt.

Bank of America stock faced a fresh regulatory risk on Thursday, October 29, 2026, after U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren urged the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into the bank and its executives over anti-money-laundering failures. CNBC reported that Warren made the request in a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche.

At 11:08 CET on Friday, October 30, Bank of America stock traded at 45.84 euros on Lang & Schwarz. The real-time quote of Bank of America stock reflects the active European trading venue.

Warren seeks criminal review

Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, asked the DOJ to determine whether criminal charges are warranted. She also requested an answer by November 12 on whether the department has already investigated the conduct or plans to do so.

The request follows enforcement action announced by Treasury regulators on October 13. Bank of America admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering program and to report suspicious activity properly. Regulators said the bank failed to report more than USD 5 billion in suspicious transactions in a timely manner.

More than USD 1 billion of those transactions involved national-security and other high-priority risks, including activity indicative of Chinese money-laundering networks and transactions tied to the U.S. southwest border. Treasury regulators imposed more than USD 1.2 billion in penalties, including a record USD 750 million fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The enforcement action did not include criminal charges against the bank or its executives.

Compliance remains the key risk

Warren described the civil penalties as insufficient and argued that willful violations can also trigger criminal penalties. Regulators said Bank of America had at times prioritized revenue over compliance and relied heavily on law-enforcement inquiries and referrals from other financial institutions rather than its own monitoring systems.

The bank said after the enforcement action that it had invested billions of dollars in compliance and was far along in addressing the problems. However, regulators also said this month that Bank of America had not made sufficient progress on some deficiencies covered by a 2024 cease-and-desist order.

The DOJ's response could become the next regulatory milestone for investors. A criminal investigation would add legal and reputational risk beyond the existing civil penalties, while a decision not to proceed would remove one immediate escalation point without resolving the bank's longer-running compliance obligations.