TD Bank fined a combined $3B US after pleading guilty in U.S. money-laundering case | CBC News

Toronto-Dominion Bank is facing fines totalling about $3.09 billion US from U.S. regulators after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and commit money laundering.

The bank has also received a cease-and-desist order and non-financial sanctions from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, including an asset cap that put limits on its growth in the United States, after it was found that TD had “significant, systemic breakdowns in its transaction monitoring program.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said TD created an environment “that allowed financial crime to flourish by making its services convenient for criminals.”

“Today, TD Bank became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering,” Garland said at a press conference on Thursday.

“This is also the largest ever penalty under the Bank Secrecy Act.”

Garland said TD admitted in its plea agreement that it allowed three money-laundering networks to transfer more than $670 million US through TD Bank accounts over a six-year period.

At least one of those schemes involved five TD Bank employees.

Last month, outgoing chief executive Bharat Masrani said the shortcomings were his to bear as the bank announced that Raymond Chun will replace him upon his retirement next year.