US hits Bank of America with $1.2B fine

Commenters reacted to the US fining Bank of America $1.2 billion for willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act by insisting the penalty is inadequate unless individuals are criminally charged. timoth3y argued an actual person needs to face charges and proposed investigators start with employees who received bonuses, saying those records and internal emails would quickly sort out who knew what. llama052 called the settlement a "slap on the wrist" absent personal liability. skinfaxi criticized the Treasury statement for seeming to deflect by mentioning Binance rather than squarely addressing Bank of America's conduct, and ChrisArchitect posted a link to the Treasury release.

Others focused on structural incentives that commenters said encourage wrongdoing. bluefirebrand attacked the corporate veil, arguing executives can steer firms into illegal behavior to enrich themselves while shareholders and managers profit and rarely pay a personal price. Opinion divides between those who think individual prosecutions are the only meaningful deterrent and those who view fines as inadequate but worry about practical difficulty in pursuing personal criminal liability; several commenters reiterated that internal bonus and email records would be central to proving who was responsible.