NEW YORK––Bank of America amassed $1.2 billion in expenses for litigation and regulatory investigations during 2022, including fines and settlements, according to a company filing.
The cost is a major jump from $164 million recorded by the second-largest U.S. lender in 2021 and $823 million in 2020, and excludes payments for internal and external lawyers, according to an analysis by Reuters.
The costs, however, are a small fraction of the bank’s more than $3 trillion in assets, a figure that is one-third larger than all U.S. credit union assets combined.
Reuters noted BofA dealt with several major issues in 2022, setting aside $354 million as part of a settlement to pay bond insurer Ambac Financial Group for a significant lawsuit that stemmed from the 2008 mortgage crisis.
BofA also paid $225 million in penalties to U.S. financial regulators last year over employees' use of unauthorized messaging platforms including WhatsApp, Reuters reported, adding that a pair of banking regulators also fined the bank $225 million over what they called a "botched" handling of jobless benefits during the pandemic.
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“While those three cases led to just over $800 million in combined expenses last year, BofA did not specify what accounted for the remaining $400 million,” Reuters reported. “A company spokesperson declined to comment.”
As CUToday.info reported earlier, the CFPB also hit Wells & Fargo in December 2022 with a $3.7 billion agreement to settle charges over widespread mismanagement of car loans, mortgages and bank accounts.
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