Show notes
Susan Kokinda opens with the more than $1.2 billion in penalties Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's Treasury imposed on Bank of America on October 13 for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, among the largest in Treasury history, after FinCEN found the bank failed to report priority national security risks, including Chinese money laundering networks and illicit finance along the southwest border. The episode traces the bank's record from Countrywide, Merrill Lynch and its $45 billion TARP bailout back to the petrodollar loans of the 1970s, the 1980s debt crisis and IMF austerity in Latin America, and Tom Clausen's moves from Bank of America to the World Bank and back. It then turns to Bank of America's chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan, chair of the Sustainable Markets Initiative founded by King Charles and of the World Economic Forum's International Business Council, and the Net-Zero Banking Alliance launched in April 2021. It closes with Secretary Bessent's statement to the IMF. World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok on growth, exchange rates and energy, including an initial U.S. contribution to the Nuclear Energy Assistance Trust Fund, and the gap in nuclear power between the OECD and the developing world.
00:00 Monday Brief Intro
00:58 The $1.2 Billion Hammer
05:52 Time to Rename the Bank of 'America'?
09:15 Bessent Challenges the Whole Model
Credits
Photos
- A. W. (Tom) Clausen with President Reagan, Oval Office, May 15, 1981: White House / Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, public domain
- Brian Moynihan, official portrait, Homeland Security Advisory Council, 2022: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, public domain
- Charles, then Prince of Wales, COP26, Glasgow, November 2, 2021: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz, public domain
- Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum, Davos, January 27, 2018: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, public domain
- Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial, at HUD, February 21, 2002: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, public domain
- Sen. Thom Tillis, official portrait: U.S. Senate, public domain
- Roy Cooper, July 25, 2019: U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mary Junell, public domain
- Garigliano nuclear power plant, Italy, 1970: Demaag (Wikimedia Commons), CC0
- Indira Gandhi, March 21, 1977, and Anwar Sadat, June 15, 1981: Nationaal Archief / Anefo, CC0
- The Shah of Iran with President Nixon, Oval Office, July 24, 1973: National Archives, public domain
- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Bernard Gotfryd / Library of Congress, public domain
- Atucha nuclear plant, Argentina, December 5, 2017: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, public domain
- Scott Bessent, official portrait: U.S. Department of the Treasury
Video
- Brian Moynihan interviewed by David Westin, Balance of Power, June 17, 2021: Bloomberg Television
- President Nixon's address to the nation, August 15, 1971: Richard Nixon Presidential Library (White House Communications Agency), public domain
- Port-of-entry inspections: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, public domain
- Stock footage: Storyblocks
Map: Natural Earth
Articles, posts and documents quoted: U.S. Department of the Treasury (October 13 and October 14, 2026); The Brussels Times (October 12, 2026); The New York Times (October 14, 2026); Fox News (October 13, 2026); U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Eric Holder (August 21, 2014); FDIC, History of the Eighties: Lessons for the Future (1997); Bank of America newsroom, Brian Moynihan biography; Bloomberg (October 13, 2026); on X: @judyshel (October 14, 2026); Reuters (June 11, 2025)
Data: World Nuclear Association, world nuclear power reactors (October 16, 2026); Net-Zero Banking Alliance founding signatories (April 21, 2021) and Bloomberg (October 8, 2021)
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