WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has stepped into a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing Bank of America of improperly sharing customers’ financial information with law enforcement following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, challenging one of the bank’s key arguments for dismissing the case. '
According to Law360, the OCC told a Florida federal court that a regulatory safe harbor cited by BofA does not provide the protection from liability the bank contends it does.
The case, Castellon v. Bank of America, N.A., was filed in January in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida and alleges BofA violated the federal Right to Financial Privacy Act. Plaintiffs Neil Castellon, Silvia Young and Lisa Faulkner allege the bank mined customer records to identify people who used BofA products in the Washington area between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, 2021, and cross-referenced that information with other transactions, including firearm-related purchases, before sharing information with authorities. Banking Dive reported BofA has called the lawsuit “without merit” and said it followed applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
BofA moved to dismiss the amended complaint in May, after previously arguing that Supreme Court precedent establishes that bank customers do not have an ownership interest or reasonable expectation of privacy in records maintained by their banks. The OCC subsequently sought permission to file an amicus brief in the case, and Law360 reported that the regulator is disputing BofA’s attempt to rely on the safe harbor as a basis for dismissal. The court docket shows the OCC entered the litigation as an amicus curiae, while BofA’s motion to dismiss remains before U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed.
The lawsuit stems from allegations that BofA voluntarily provided the FBI with information on customers who made transactions in the Washington area surrounding Jan. 6 without subpoenas or warrants. The Charlotte Observer reported the complaint alleges the resulting information ultimately was shared among hundreds of federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies. The litigation is seeking class-action status, with the court currently setting a May 2027 deadline for a class-certification motion and a June 2028 trial, although those dates could change as the case proceeds.