U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced in Washington D.C. on Thursday that TD Bank had entered a guilty plea to multiple felony charges
One of the largest financial institutions in the U.S., TD Bank, has agreed to pay a record $3 billion penalty after pleading guilty to felony charges. This marks the largest-ever penalty under the Bank Secrecy Act and the first time a U.S. bank has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering.
The Justice Department highlighted TD Bank’s compliance failures, which created an environment where financial crime thrived. As part of the agreement, the bank will now undergo significant reforms.
Here are the key details of TD Bank’s historic guilty plea and the record-breaking penalties.
TD Bank Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act Violations
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the guilty plea in Washington D.C. on Thursday. He stated that TD Bank agreed to a criminal penalty of $1.8 billion, which, when combined with civil enforcement actions, will result in a total penalty of approximately $3 billion.
"This resolution includes the largest-ever penalty under the Bank Secrecy Act and the first time the Justice Department has assessed a daily fine against a bank,” Garland noted, adding that TD Bank “created an environment that allowed financial crime to flourish. By making its services convenient for criminals, it became one.”
According to Garland, TD Bank admitted to failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) program from January 2014 to October 2023. During this time, the bank failed to monitor $18.3 trillion in customer activity, enabling three money laundering networks to transfer over $670 million through its accounts. One of the schemes even involved five bank employees.
Despite having an automated transaction monitoring system designed to flag suspicious activity, the bank deliberately rendered it ineffective. Senior executives, including the future chief AML officer, were aware of the system’s deficiencies but failed to address them.
As part of the agreement, TD Bank will now have to undertake significant reforms, including restructuring its compliance program. Noting that TD Bank is the 10th largest bank in the U.S., Garland further emphasized: "Today, TD Bank became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures and the first U.S. bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering."
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