Investors who bought Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) common stock between August 1, 2025 and October 13, 2026 may be covered by a proposed class action alleging Bank of America and two of its top executives misled shareholders about the scope of its anti-money-laundering and sanctions compliance failures. No class has been certified and there is nothing to file yet.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes a class action complaint. The claims that Bank of America and its executives misled investors are unproven allegations. Bank of America Corporation, Brian Moynihan and Alastair Borthwick have not been found liable in this case, there is no certified class, and there is nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
A Teamsters pension fund that owns Bank of America shares filed a proposed securities class action on October 16, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case is New England Teamsters Pension Fund v. Bank of America Corporation, No. 1:26-cv-09137. It was filed three days after federal regulators announced more than $1.21 billion in penalties and settlements against the bank’s main operating subsidiary, Bank of America, N.A., over its Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money-laundering and sanctions compliance.The complaint names Bank of America Corporation, Chair and CEO Brian Moynihan and Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick, and asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5. Its central claim is that, for more than a year, the company’s SEC filings described a 2024 regulatory order as limited and largely under control while, according to the complaint, the underlying problems were widespread and unresolved. The court has not ruled on any of these claims, and no judge had been assigned on the public docket as of October 17, 2026.
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The 2024 Consent Order
On December 23, 2024, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which supervises national banks, issued a cease-and-desist order against Bank of America, N.A. The bank agreed to the order without admitting or denying the OCC’s findings. As the complaint summarizes it, the OCC found that the bank’s thresholds for sending transaction alerts to investigators were set improperly, that it had not put enough resources into investigations, and that it had not met suspicious activity report (SAR) filing requirements.The order required the bank to set up a board compliance committee, bring in an independent consultant to assess its compliance programs, submit a corrective-action plan and carry out reviews of past transactions to check whether suspicious activity had been reported. It also required regular progress reports to the board and the OCC.
What the Complaint Alleges
The complaint points to five SEC filings made during the class period: the quarterly reports for the second and third quarters of 2025, the 2025 annual report filed February 25, 2026, and the quarterly reports for the first and second quarters of 2026. Each was signed or certified by Moynihan and Borthwick.According to the complaint, those filings described the 2024 order as relating to “certain aspects” of the bank’s compliance programs, said the company had “already completed significant steps” toward meeting the order’s requirements, and said management did not expect the issues to have a material adverse financial impact. The second-quarter 2026 report, filed July 31, 2026, added that resolving the matter might involve monetary penalties. The complaint also takes issue with risk-factor language that described further penalties as something that could happen if the bank failed to meet regulatory requirements.
The complaint claims those statements were misleading because, it alleges, the defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that the bank’s monitoring weaknesses were systemic, that internal reports had flagged them for years, that its sanctions controls were also deficient, and that fixing the problems would take substantial resources and expose the bank to large penalties. These are the plaintiff’s allegations and have not been tested in court.
The October 13 Penalties and the Stock Drop
After the market closed on October 13, 2026, three Treasury Department offices announced coordinated actions against Bank of America, N.A.:- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imposed a $1.2 billion civil money penalty and credited the bank’s $750 million payment to the OCC against it. In the consent order, the bank admitted FinCEN’s statement of facts, including that it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act in the civil sense, and that gaps in its transaction monitoring led it to miss or delay reporting more than $5 billion in suspicious activity, about $1 billion of it tied to national security and other priority risks.
- The OCC assessed a $750 million civil money penalty, which it called the largest in its history, and said the bank’s program remained deficient, with significant gaps continuing after the 2024 order.
- The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced an $11,662,930 settlement covering 475 apparent sanctions violations between September 2021 and April 2025, which OFAC treated as non-egregious.
The next morning, October 14, 2026, Bank of America reported third-quarter results that included a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible regulatory settlement charge, which it said reduced earnings by $0.17 a share. The complaint says analysts on the earnings call questioned whether the compliance problems were fully behind the company, and that the stock fell as low as $49.26 during the day before closing at $51.39, down 4.8% from the prior close of $53.96. The proposed class period ends on October 13, 2026.
The bank’s admissions to FinCEN concern its compliance program. Whether the company misled its shareholders is a separate question, and that claim remains an allegation.
Bank of America’s Response
In a statement reported by Reuters on October 13, 2026, a Bank of America spokesperson said, “Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right,” and said the bank had invested billions of dollars in technology and dedicated thousands of employees to fighting financial crime. Bank of America has not yet filed a response to the securities complaint in court.Who Is in the Proposed Class
The complaint proposes a class of all persons and entities, other than the defendants, that purchased or otherwise acquired Bank of America common stock from August 1, 2025 through October 13, 2026, inclusive, and were damaged as a result. It excludes the defendants, the company’s officers and directors, members of the individual defendants’ immediate families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns, and any entity in which the defendants have or had a controlling interest.The complaint seeks damages with interest, costs and attorneys’ and expert fees, and demands a jury trial. Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP filed it.
What Happens Next
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act sets the early steps in a case like this. Once a complaint is filed, notice is published and investors have 60 days to ask the court to name them lead plaintiff. Plaintiff’s counsel published that notice on October 16, 2026, and it gives the deadline as December 15, 2026. The court then appoints a lead plaintiff and approves lead counsel, who usually file an amended complaint. Defendants commonly respond with a motion to dismiss, and discovery is generally on hold while that motion is pending.There is no settlement and no claim process. If the case is later resolved by a settlement or judgment, class members would receive a court-approved notice describing how to submit a claim.
Questions
Is there a Bank of America investor settlement or claim form?
No. The securities case was filed on October 16, 2026 and is at the complaint stage. No class has been certified, no settlement has been reached, and there is no claim form. The court has not ruled on any of the complaint’s allegations.
Is this the same as the $1.2 billion FinCEN penalty?
No. The $1.2 billion FinCEN penalty, the $750 million OCC penalty credited against it and the $11.6 million OFAC settlement are government enforcement actions, and the money goes to the U.S. Treasury rather than to investors. The securities class action is a separate private lawsuit that relies on those announcements as the moment the alleged problems became public.
What is the lead plaintiff deadline in the Bank of America case?
According to the notice plaintiff’s counsel published on October 16, 2026, motions to serve as lead plaintiff are due by December 15, 2026. Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, the court then selects a lead plaintiff and approves lead counsel. The notice states that class members do not need to seek lead plaintiff appointment to share in any recovery.
Does the proposed class include Bank of America bank customers?
The complaint’s proposed class covers people and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Bank of America common stock between August 1, 2025 and October 13, 2026 and were damaged. Having a checking, savings or credit card account with the bank does not by itself place someone in the proposed class.
What did Bank of America admit to FinCEN?
In FinCEN’s October 2026 consent order, Bank of America, N.A. admitted the order’s statement of facts and violations, including that it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act as that term is used in civil enforcement. Those admissions concern the bank’s compliance program. They are not an admission that the company misled shareholders, which is what the securities complaint alleges and has not been proven.
Sources
- Docket, New England Teamsters Pension Fund v. Bank of America Corporation, No. 1:26-cv-09137 (S.D.N.Y.)
- Class Action Complaint (ECF 1, filed October 16, 2026), the source for the class period, class definition, the challenged SEC filings and the October 14, 2026 stock prices.
- FinCEN: FinCEN Assesses $1.2 Billion Penalty against Bank of America (October 13, 2026), and the FinCEN consent order.
- OCC News Release 2026-89 (October 13, 2026), announcing the $750 million civil money penalty.
- OFAC enforcement release on Bank of America, N.A. (October 13, 2026).
- Bank of America third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Form 8-K exhibit), the source for the $1.2 billion charge and its $0.17-a-share impact.
- Reuters report on the penalties and the bank’s statement (October 13, 2026).
- Plaintiff’s counsel’s notice of the lawsuit (October 16, 2026), the source for the December 15, 2026 lead plaintiff deadline.
