Bank of America Debanks Conservatives While Failing to Flag Chinese Money Laundering

Free Enterprise Project Demands Accountability After $1.2 Billion Penalty for Anti-Money Laundering Violations

Washington, D.C. - After Bank of America was hit with a $1.2 billion penalty for serious anti-money laundering violations involving billions of dollars in suspicious transactions, Free Enterprise Project (FEP) Executive Director Steve Milloy is demanding answers about how the banking giant allowed transactions linked to Chinese money laundering networks and other national security risks to slip through the cracks.

"We are shocked and gravely concerned that Bank of America violated federal anti-money laundering laws," said Milloy. "But we are especially concerned about the Communist China aspect. It represents a national security threat. Bank of America may not be selling communists the rope, but it seems to be facilitating their financial transactions toward the same end."

The National Center for Public Policy Research, FEP's parent organization, is a Bank of America shareholder.

According to federal regulators, Bank of America willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program, conduct required due diligence on certain foreign financial institution accounts and promptly report suspicious activity.

As a result, the bank failed to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions in a timely manner, including more than $1 billion involving national security-related and priority illicit finance risks. Regulators identified activity indicative of Chinese money laundering networks, fraud and potential trade-based money laundering connected to the southwestern U.S. border.

For Milloy, the revelations are particularly striking given Bank of America's history of accusations involving politically motivated debanking. President Donald Trump publicly confronted Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan at the 2025 World Economic Forum over allegations that the bank had denied services to conservatives.

"It is ironic that an institution called 'Bank of America' has apparently been more interested in debanking conservative Americans based on their political ideology than in debanking Chinese account holders through which Communist China may be actively trying to subvert and harm America," Milloy said.

In an October 14 letter to Bank of America leadership, Milloy demanded that the letter be shared with the bank's board and requested a response within 30 days explaining how Bank of America plans to ensure compliance with the law, discipline employees responsible for the failures and report to shareholders about its efforts to address national security risks involving Communist China.

"This is about much more than a compliance failure," Milloy said. "Bank of America owes its shareholders an explanation of how this happened, who will be held accountable and what the bank is going to do to make sure it is not facilitating financial activity that threatens American national security."

FEP will continue pressing Bank of America's leadership for answers and accountability.