Dec 23 (Reuters) -

A U.S. bank regulator announced Monday that it had issued a

cease and desist order against Bank of America ( BAC ) for shortcomings

in its abilities to police money laundering.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency prescribed

several extra efforts for the bank after finding it was failing

to file timely reports on suspicious activities and conducting

due diligence on its customers, among other issues, the

regulator said in a statement.

There was no monetary fine included with the action.

The bank said in a statement that it had been working

closely with regulators over the past year to improve its

anti-money laundering and sanctions programs, and was

well-positioned to meet the requirements of the order.