Toronto-Dominion Bank Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges
Toronto-Dominion Bank has pleaded guilty to multiple money laundering charges, resulting in a record penalty of $3.09 billion. This fine is part of a settlement stemming from criminal charges issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The charges include conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and failure to monitor transactions for suspicious activity. U.S. regulators allege TD Bank processed hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions with signs of potential illicit activity, posing significant risks for money laundering and terrorist financing.
The fine will be allocated among several U.S. regulatory agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Additionally, TD’s U.S. operations face restrictions, as it cannot open new branches or enter new markets without regulatory approval. It is also barred from growing its assets beyond $434 billion, with the OCC indicating it may compel TD to reduce assets by up to 7% annually.
TD had anticipated these restrictions, setting aside $2.6 billion in provisions last quarter, bringing the total to $3.06 billion. Despite these setbacks, TD expressed confidence in enhancing its anti-money laundering program while serving over 10 million U.S. customers.
CEO Bharat Masrani, who announced his retirement next year, accepted responsibility for the bank’s failures, stating, “These failures took place on my watch as CEO, and I apologize to all our stakeholders.” The bank is also cooperating with authorities to prosecute individuals who exploited weaknesses in its anti-money laundering protocols, including five store-level employees. TD is committed to addressing these issues and strengthening its operations moving forward.
