Key insight: The settlement covers at least 60 victims, making BofA the third major bank to settle claims with Epstein's victims.
Supporting data: BofA had denied wrongdoing but agreed to settle the case to avoid a scheduled trial in May.
What's at stake: U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff had allowed the case to proceed, finding the complaint "plausibly alleges that Bank of America recklessly disregarded" information and may have "turned a blind eye" to the trafficking scheme.
Bank of America has agreed to pay $72.5 million to survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking operation in a settlement of a civil suit.
The lawsuit alleged the nation's second-largest bank enabled and profited from Epstein's criminal enterprise by providing banking services to Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and Leon Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management.
The settlement covers at least 60 women who were victimized by Epstein between June 2008 and July 2019.
The $3.4 trillion-asset BofA, the nation's second largest bank, has denied wrongdoing and said it resolved the case to put an end to the litigation.
BofA is the third bank to settle with Epstein's victims following similar settlements made in 2023 by JPMorganChase for $290 million and Deutsche Bank for $75 million.
In the BofA suit, which was filed last year by a Jane Doe, plaintiffs claimed the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank failed to monitor and file timely suspicious activity reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or Fincen, about questionable transactions.
The suit focused specifically on a $170 million payment made by Black to Epstein for "tax and estate planning advice," which the plaintiffs alleged was used to fund a trafficking enterprise. BofA did not report the payment as suspicious under the Bank Secrecy Act though SARs are mandatory filings for suspicions of money laundering, terrorism financing or fraud.
In January, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that the case could move forward but dismissed four claims that BofA facilitated Epstein's scheme. In a February opinion, Rakoff found that BofA showed "reckless disregard" and may have "turned a blind eye" to the trafficking scheme. The judge had set a May 11 trial date, which led to the bank's settlement.
A BofA spokesman said in a prepared statement: "While we stand by our prior statements made in the filings in this case, including that Bank of America did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs."
Black was not a defendant in the lawsuit against BofA. BofA has denied all liability, wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein's sex trafficking.
Epstein's vast network touched dozens of industries, but perhaps none so much as the banking industry, which — wittingly or not — helped facilitate many of his crimes. The public release of the files has allowed law enforcement, journalists and online sleuths to comb through them, and more connections could emerge.
JPMorganChase and Deutsche Bank were the primary bankers to Epstein for years and their settlements were slightly different.
JPMorgan allegedly ignored internal red flags regarding large cash withdrawals and wire transfers to beneficiaries that allowed Epstein to use his accounts to pay victims. The Deutsche Bank claims focused on its role as Epstein's banker that enabled his sex-trafficking operation for years. The BofA lawsuit was focused on the bank's role in providing banking services to Epstein and specifically Black, enabling large, suspicious transactions that funded his activities.
The settlement is expected to be approved on April 2.
Kate Berry has covered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for American Banker since 2016. She joined the publication in 2006 covering mortgage... Read full bio
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