Bank of America will pay $250 million for illegal deception

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Bank of America will pay $250 million for deceiving customers; Palestinian President Abbas appeals for calm in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Regulators’ $250 million crackdown on Bank of America

Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

• Bank of America agreed to pay $250 million in fines and compensation for years of illegal practices that undermined the trust of its customers. [Reuters / Chris Prentice]
• The nation’s second largest bank charged customers $35 overdraft fees multiple times for the same transaction, opened accounts under customers’ names without their approval, and failed to issue rewards for new credit card signups. [CNBC / Hugh Son]
• The bank will pay customers $100 million in restitution and another $150 million in fines to federal regulators, as the Biden administration cracks down on so-called “junk fees” that exploit Americans. [Associated Press / Michelle Chapman and Ken Sweet]
• Responding to the fines, the lender said it voluntarily stopped charging overdraft and insufficient fund fees in 2022, resulting in a 90 percent drop in revenue from such practices. [CNN / Matt Egan and Jeanne Sahadi]
• Regulators have repeatedly fined Bank America for misleading customers in recent years, including an over $700 million fine for deceptive marketing in 2014. [NPR / Dustin Jones]

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Vox’s Rachel Cohen explains how liberal abortion rights groups in at least 10 states plan to codify reproductive rights in 2024. [Vox / Rachel Cohen]

Palestinian president tries to ease West Bank tensions

• Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appealed for calm in Jenin, days after the biggest Israeli operation in decades rocked the occupied West Bank city. [Reuters / Raneen Sawafta]
• Abbas promised to reconstruct the refugee camp and tried to reassert control during the rare visit — but only a few hundred of 24,000 residents showed up for his speech. [BBC / Tom Bateman]
• Israel claims it launched the raid to crack down on militants operating in the refugee camp. The violence killed 12 Palestinians, destroyed critical infrastructure, and forced thousands from their homes. [AP / Julia Frankel]
• The Palestinian Authority is limited in its power and is widely unpopular among Palestinians, who think the government has failed to defend them against deadly Israeli raids. [Al Jazeera]

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Inflation eased to 3 percent in June, its lowest rate in two years, fueled by declines in food and gas prices. [Vox / Li Zhou]

• Prominent lawyers with issues before the Supreme Court reportedly made payments to an aide to Justice Clarence Thomas for a 2019 Christmas party, raising further questions about justices’ ethics. [Guardian / Stephanie Kirchgaessner]
• Far-right House Republicans are preventing Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from passing crucial spending bills as they push for votes on culture war issues. [Politico / Sarah Ferris and Olivia Beavers]
• This week, residents of Johannesburg, South Africa, are experiencing snow for the first time since 2012. [New York Times / Derrick Bryson Taylor]

“This is just the latest in a long line of illustrations of why we can’t trust Wall Street to do the right thing.”

[Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Bank of America’s deceptive practices / Reuters]

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