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TD Bank faces the largest fine in U.S. history for anti-money laundering violations
TD Bank, one of Canada's biggest lenders, has agreed to pay over $3 billion and plead guilty to criminal charges in the U.S. for letting drug cartels and criminals send hundreds of millions in illicit funds. Prosecutors say that nearly a decade, the bank did not have adequate anti-money laundering controls, ignoring glaring red flags, such as customers making daily cash deposits of $1 million.
This has placed a reign on the expansion of TD Bank in the U.S and has resulted in the largest fine ever issued under anti-money laundering laws. This has seen the bank's Chief Executive Bharat Masrani apologize over the failures in this banking corporation such as improvement by employing more than 700 compliance staff.
This marks a significant moment, as TD is the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty under the Bank Secrecy Act and the first one for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Attorneys General Merrick Garland cited how the services that the bank had to offer had become most convenient for criminals, where staff were allegedly joking that their motto, "America's most convenient bank," was catering to illicit activities.
By the end of 2018, TD had failed to monitor over 90% of transactions, which was above $18 trillion. The settlement encompasses $1.8 billion to the Justice Department and $1.3 billion to the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, among others. Share prices for TD Bank declined more than 5% upon the news.
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