Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday, October 29, 2026, requesting a criminal investigation into Bank of America and its executives. The request follows the bank’s admission earlier this month that it willfully violated federal anti-money laundering laws. Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, characterized recent civil penalties against the bank as a "slap on the wrist."
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) fined Bank of America more than $1.2 billion on October 13, 2026, for failing to report suspicious transactions and mitigate national security risks. The penalty included a $750 million fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which described the bank's compliance program as ineffective. According to the Treasury, the bank failed to report more than $5 billion in suspicious activity, including $1 billion linked to Chinese money laundering networks and transactions tied to the southwest border.
Warren stated in her letter that the bank's violations allowed illicit actors to move billions through the U.S. financial system. She argued that civil fines have become "the cost of doing business on Wall Street" and do not serve as an adequate deterrent. The bank previously received a cease-and-desist order from the OCC in 2024 regarding its anti-money laundering controls, but regulators reported this month that the institution had not made sufficient progress in addressing those deficiencies.
A criminal prosecution would involve the Bank Secrecy Act, a law requiring banks to help government agencies detect and prevent money laundering. While civil penalties like the $1.2 billion fine are among the largest in Treasury history, Warren argues they do not eliminate profit incentives for lawbreaking.
The Justice Department and Bank of America did not immediately respond to requests for comment following the release of Warren's letter. The bank has previously stated it has invested billions of dollars in its compliance systems and is working to address the identified problems. Senator Warren has requested a response from Attorney General Blanche by November 12, 2026, regarding whether the DOJ has already conducted a criminal probe or plans to launch one in the future.