Bank of America fine whistleblower Everett Stern

von Kelsey7f: Scott Bessent

Everett Stern sent an open letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arguing that the recent penalty isn't enough because shareholders absorb the financial cost while no individual bankers face criminal charges. The US Treasury linked some of the unreported funds to Chinese money laundering networks and illicit finance on the southern border after Bank of America received a $1.2 billion fine for failing to report over $5 billion in suspicious transactions. This total penalty includes a record $750 million assessment from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Stern contends this dynamic causes similar incidents to recur, noting he previously exposed HSBC's $1.92 billion settlement in 2012. He argued that shareholders pay the fine, the balance sheet absorbs it, and not one banker gets charged, which is why the same thing keeps happening.