Compliance Clarified – a podcast by Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence
Season 12, Episode 9: A discussion on TD Bank's AML challenges and record-setting fine
Nov 14, 2024
Brett Wolf, an award-winning journalist and expert on anti-money laundering and financial crime, delves into TD Bank's significant compliance failures that led to over $3 billion in fines. He discusses the decade-long investigation revealing systemic negligence in filing suspicious activity reports and the motivations behind plea agreements from key witnesses. The conversation touches on the consequences of these violations, including harsh remediation demands and how they will impact the bank’s future operations and compliance strategies.
28:13
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Quick takeaways
- TD Bank's systemic AML failures led to over $3 billion in fines, highlighting a critical need for enhanced regulatory compliance in financial institutions.
- The imposition of rigorous remediation requirements and an asset cap reveals the long-term impact of compliance failures on a bank's operational strategy.
Deep dives
Consequences of AML Failures at TD Bank
TD Bank faced over $3 billion in fines from multiple U.S. banking regulators and law enforcement for systemic failures in its anti-money laundering (AML) program. The bank failed to report thousands of suspicious activities, allowing pervasive illegal activities such as narcotics trafficking and terrorist financing to infiltrate its system. Despite previous warnings and a prior consent order with FinCEN, TD Bank continued to underfund its AML operations from 2013 to 2024, illustrating a troubling trend where banks often view AML as a cost center rather than a vital compliance function. This negligence culminated in TD Bank becoming the largest institution in U.S. history to plead guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
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