Bank of America (BoA) is currently under investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). CFPB is trying to determine if BoA opened accounts without authorization back in 2014 to meet sales goals. In 2016 Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $185 million in fines and fired 5,300 employees due to a similar issue, Wells Fargo then settled a class action for unauthorized account openings and paid another $142 million.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency investigated more than 40 banks, including Bank of America after the Wells Fargo saga came to light and no charges were laid. Because of this BoA have requested that the CFPB investigation be modified and that information kept confidential. A spokesperson for Bank of America has stated:
In previous reviews, we have worked with regulators to confirm we have the right processes and controls in place to govern our sales practices, and that we have not experienced any systemic issues. We will continue to cooperate with the CFPB, and look forward to wrapping up this investigation and demonstrating what prior reviews confirmed
