TD Bank N.A. (TDBNA), the 10th largest bank in the U.S., and its parent company, TD Bank US Holding Company (TDBUSH), have pleaded guilty to multiple violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and money laundering, agreeing to pay over $1.8 billion in penalties.
TDBNA was found guilty of conspiring to operate without a proper anti-money laundering (AML) program in compliance with the BSA and for failing to file accurate Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). TDBUSH was guilty of causing these failures at TDBNA. This resolution was coordinated with federal regulatory bodies, including the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated that TD Bank’s actions made it convenient for criminals, marking it as the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to such program failures. He emphasized the ongoing investigations into individuals involved in the bank’s misconduct.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco remarked on TD Bank’s longstanding neglect of its compliance program, which allowed criminal elements to exploit its systems and emphasized the consequences of non-compliance for financial institutions.
Officials documented pervasive deficiencies in TD Bank’s U.S. AML policies and noted that senior executives imposed restrictive budget controls that hindered the bank’s ability to bolster its compliance efforts. As a result, TD Bank failed to monitor transactions effectively, allowing large sums tied to money laundering networks to pass through unnoticed.
From 2014 to 2022, repeated alerts from regulators and internal audits about the inadequacy of TD Bank’s transaction monitoring were ignored, leading to significant unmonitored transaction activity. TD Bank also failed to appropriately address suspicious transaction scenarios and allowed substantial transactional activity that raised red flags to occur without adequate reporting.
Criminal networks reportedly utilized TD Bank to transfer over $670 million through various schemes from 2019 to 2023, involving large cash deposits and other suspicious activities. Several employees conspired with these networks, resulting in charges against numerous individuals, including some insiders.
TD Bank’s plea agreement includes a forfeiture of $452 million and a criminal fine of nearly $1.4 billion, totaling approximately $1.9 billion in penalties. The bank must also appoint an independent compliance monitor for three years and enhance its AML compliance measures.
While TD Bank did not voluntarily report its wrongdoing, it received partial credit for its cooperation during the investigation. The penalties consider the seriousness and scale of its offenses, which positioned the bank as a favored channel for criminal activities.
This case was investigated by various federal agencies, with the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section leading the prosecution. The case falls under an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation, aiming to dismantle high-level criminal organizations impacting the U.S. financial system.