Bank of America Bracing for $800,000,000 Loss As Investigators Probe BofA, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo’s Alleged Refusal To Reimburse Customers

The second-largest US bank by total assets says it’s preparing for significant losses due to ongoing regulatory issues.

In a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bank of America says it faces a “reasonably possible and estimable” loss of up to $800 million due to investigations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other federal regulators.

“The Corporation has been responding to an inquiry from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding the Corporation’s processing of electronic payments of funds through the Zelle network.

The CFPB staff has initiated discussions with the Corporation to pursue a resolution of the inquiry or file an enforcement action. The Corporation is evaluating next steps, including litigation.”

Bank of America also says it’s engaging with several unnamed federal regulators over its anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs and a resolution of the discussions could result in “one or more public orders by the regulators.”

Investigators are reportedly probing BofA, along with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo to determine whether the banks are properly reimbursing victims of fraud on the Zelle payments network and whether the banks are effectively eliminating scammer’s accounts.

Zelle has also attracted the attention of US lawmakers.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in July that Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase had collectively declined to reimburse $880 million in disputed transactions on Zelle between 2021 and 2023.

The subcommittee found that the three trillion-dollar banks only reimbursed victims 38% of the time for reported Zelle scams in 2023. In 2019, the three reportedly reimbursed victims of Zelle scams 62% of the time.

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