Exclusive: Bank of America Merrill Lynch to pay $26 million for allegedly failing to report suspicious transactions

NEW YORK (TR Regulatory Intelligence) - Wall Street regulators later Thursday or early next week are expected to fine Bank of America Merrill Lynch a total of $26 million over alleged failures to report suspicious transactions, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will each fine Bank of America Merrill Lynch $13 million over brokerage account transactions that occurred mainly in 2010 and 2011 and were not properly policed for illicit activity, the sources said.

The firm will also enter into a cease-and-desist order.

One allegation is that the brokerage firm provided traditional banking services, such as wire transfers to offshore companies and cash deposits via ATMs, yet the transactions were not screened by bank software designed to flag potentially illicit activity, a source familiar with the impending fines said.

Spokesmen for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the SEC declined comment. A FINRA spokeswoman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

(Brett Wolf, Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.)