Bank of America said it expects net interest income to increase by at least 8% in 2027, extending growth that reached 8% year over year in the third quarter. Management expects sequential improvement in the fourth quarter and said the outlook is based on modest loan and deposit growth, fixed-rate asset repricing and three anticipated 25-basis-point rate increases through June 2027.
The charge followed coordinated enforcement actions announced Oct. FinCEN assessed a $1. 2 billion penalty over failures involving the mitigation and reporting of national-security risks, including Chinese money-laundering networks and illicit finance along the southwest border. The OCC separately imposed a $750 million civil penalty, the largest in its history, while OFAC reached an $11. 6 million settlement over apparent sanctions violations involving Iran, Russia, narcotics and global terrorism.
The OCC said the bank’s transaction-monitoring system failed to properly monitor trillions of dollars in transactions, contributing to late suspicious-activity reports involving billions of dollars. It also cited inadequate staffing and training, ineffective audits and continuing weaknesses after a December 2024 enforcement order. Bank of America has said it has invested billions of dollars and deployed thousands of employees to combat financial crime, while committing to complete the remediation required by regulators.
Operationally, third-quarter net interest income reached $16. 4 billion, or $16. 6 billion on a taxable-equivalent basis, helped by higher loan and deposit balances, fixed-rate asset repricing and Global Markets activity. Its preliminary common equity Tier 1 ratio was 10. 9%, down from the prior quarter.