With the value of bank fines up 415% in 2022, new research by Forex Suggest has analysed factors such as fines per year, total amount penalised and percentage of shares to reveal the most fined financial companies in the world.

Bank of America has received by far the highest combined value of over $60bn in fines since 2012. 

Bank of America was fined heavily in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, and was the recipient of four of the ten biggest fines since 2012.  Its total amount penalised was a huge $60,627,451,587 across 124 fines.

JPMorgan Chase saw the second-largest combined fine value since 2012 at $34.21bn. Aside from the company's $13bn fine for toxic securities abuses, the company was fined another 121 times to make up the $21.21bn remainder.

Some notable fines within these are a $5.33bn penalty due to mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses, a further $1.96bn fine for mortgage abuses, and a $1.7bn penalty in 2013 relating to anti-money laundering criminal charges.  

Wells Fargo is the third most heavily fined company in the study with a combined fine value of $20.32bn since 2012. 

In 2012, Wells Fargo was included in the $25bn settlement which targeted the five biggest mortgage servicers in the US to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. It was required to pay $5.34bn to provide relief to homeowners affected by the subprime mortgage crisis. 

Further findings include Natwest Group, which has taken 7th place for the most fined finance company since 2012 when looking at combined fine values. 

Natwest managed to rack up 30 fine counts and bill up to $13bn in fines, partially due to money laundering failings.
Since 2012 toxic securities abuses were by far the most costly of any offence type, with a combined value of $94.59bn. 

These offences often relate to misleading investors with regard to the packaging, securitization, issuance, marketing and many other breached codes of conduct that were at the centre of the 2008 financial crisis. 

The biggest reason for fines in 2022 is Investor Protection Violation, with 24 overall violations. This is followed by consumer protection violation and Foreign corrupt practices act.

As of 21 November, there had been a total of 154 fines handed out for financial violations in 2022 in the United States. This puts 2022 on course to be the year with the lowest number of fines in our study, with approximately 173 fines predicted in total if the current rate continues. 

Companies in New York state have received the most fines since 2012 with a total of 843, accounting for 27.68% of the national total. 

As New York City is home to Wall Street, the centre of finance in the United States, this result should come as no surprise.

Only 18 of these fines were issued to companies based outside of NYC, 13 of which went to Buffalo-based M&T Bank. New York City is the city whose companies are fined the most frequently, with a total of 825 fines being issued to resident companies of the Big Apple since 2012.