Here's the bank money news from this week, spanning massive fines, profit surges, and significant cyber thefts.

Here's the bank money news from this week, spanning massive fines, profit surges, and significant cyber thefts.

💰 The Big Fines & Penalties

**Bank of America: $1.21 Billion**

The U.S. Treasury imposed over $1.21 billion in penalties on Bank of America after finding the bank failed to promptly report over $5 billion in suspicious transactions. The enforcement package includes a $1.2 billion FinCEN assessment, a $750 million OCC penalty credited against that assessment, and an $11.6 million sanctions settlement. Senator Elizabeth Warren called it a "slap on the wrist" compared to the bank's roughly $30 billion annual profit and urged the DOJ to pursue criminal charges against its executives.

NatWest: Impairments Nearly Double + UK Bank Surcharge Doubles

NatWest shares fell 1.8% after revealing impairment losses surged 98% quarter-on-quarter to £277 million. Adding to the pain, the UK Budget confirmed the bank profit surcharge doubled from 3% to 6% for a 15-month period. Despite total income climbing 7% year-over-year to £4.64 billion, attributable profit fell sequentially to £1.53 billion.

**American Express: $350 Million**

Last week, regulators fined American Express $350 million for failing to catch and report money laundering in its system.

💵 The Profit Jumps

Credit Agricole: Profit Up 11%

France's Credit Agricole reported an 11% like-for-like rise in Q3 net profit, driven by a 10% jump in investment banking revenue to €1.75 billion ($1.96 billion) and a 17% revenue growth in its French retail arm to a record €1.15 billion. However, the CEO warned that loan demand would likely decline as investment in France slows.

China's Mega Banks: Biggest Quarterly Gains in Years

ICBC, the world's largest lender, posted a 10% profit rise to 111.96 billion yuan (RM68.2 billion)—its biggest gain in five years. Agricultural Bank of China rose 11%, Bank of Communications rose 10.1%, China Construction Bank rose 9.8%, and Bank of China rose 6.4%. The recovery comes as interest margins rebound from record lows and bad loans are contained. Beijing is also injecting another 300 billion yuan in special bonds to recapitalize eight institutions.

🚨 The Cyber Thefts

BTG Pactual (Brazil): R$100 Million (~$18-20 Million USD)

A hacker attack against BTG Pactual diverted approximately R$100 million through a flaw in PIX operations. Most funds have been recovered, but R$20 million to R$40 million are still being sought. Client accounts were not accessed, and PIX operations were temporarily suspended.

South Korean Crypto Exchange (PraBang): 100 Million KRW (~$72,000 USD)

A South Korean crypto exchange suffered a direct asset theft of 100 million KRW from its hot wallet. The exchange has suspended services and pledged to cover the full amount with company assets.

Bithumb (South Korea): Data Breach

A hacking incident at Bithumb exposed the personal data of 7,159 individuals (6,444 customers and 715 employees). While 5,600 customers had encrypted data, 844 customers had their names, phone numbers, resident registration numbers, driver's license numbers, and account numbers exposed.

🏦 The South Korean Data Breach Fallout

Following the chain of hacking attacks across South Korea's financial sector, Shinhan Bank and Hana Bank are providing VIP-level services and financial-crime compensation insurance to all affected customers—over 25,000 for Shinhan alone—at the bank's expense.