“Bank of America's anti-money laundering violations enabled illicit actors to move billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system.” — Elizabeth Warren. Our verdict: True.

What we found

The evidence

• Background

  Senator Elizabeth Warren publicly alleged that Bank of America's anti-money laundering violations enabled illicit actors to move billions of dollars through the US financial system. [1]

• Supports the claim

  The US Treasury announced that Bank of America was fined $1.2 billion by FinCEN for failing to report over $5 billion in suspicious activity, including risks related to money laundering networks. [2]

• Supports the claim

  Bank of America formally admitted to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its rules on anti-money laundering programme requirements in a FinCEN consent order. [3]

• Supports the claim

  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined Bank of America $750 million for anti-money laundering violations, noting that deficient monitoring led to late reporting of billions of dollars in transactions with signs of money laundering. [4]

• Supports the claim

  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a cease-and-desist order in 2024 over Bank of America's anti-money laundering compliance programme deficiencies. [5]

• Supports the claim

  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a consent order citing Bank of America for unsafe practices regarding Bank Secrecy Act compliance and failure to correct previously reported problems. [6]

What we could not confirm

• The exact share of the billions of dollars in suspicious transactions that was definitively proven to be criminal proceeds is not quantified in the public enforcement documents.
• The claim rests on regulatory findings rather than criminal convictions, so the involvement of specific illicit actors is based on regulators' descriptions of suspicious activity and money laundering networks, not on proven criminal cases.
• We could not independently verify that every dollar moved was enabled solely by these anti-money laundering violations, as opposed to other factors.

How we checked

We examined official enforcement actions and press releases from US regulators, including FinCEN and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, along with the original news report of Senator Warren's statement. These records included consent orders, penalty announcements, and cease-and-desist orders issued between 2024 and 2026. We reviewed 6 relevant sources.