TD Bank’s Possible Guilty Plea

(Reuters) – TD Bank is nearing a potential guilty plea regarding criminal charges that its U.S. retail division failed to combat money laundering linked to Chinese crime groups and illicit fentanyl sales, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Canada’s second-largest lender is currently in negotiations with U.S. federal prosecutors, with an expected plea from its U.S. retail arm in two weeks, according to unnamed sources familiar with the situation.

TD Bank and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have not responded to Reuters’ inquiries. In May, the bank announced a comprehensive overhaul of its U.S. and global anti-money laundering program.

At that time, TD Bank stated that it had invested over C$500 million (approximately $400 million) on program remediation and platform improvements, responding to regulatory investigations into its compliance programs in both Canada and the U.S.

U.S. authorities have accused TD Bank of recklessness in its failure to establish and maintain adequate systems to prevent money laundering, as reported by the Journal.

Additionally, the bank’s parent company has reportedly set aside over $3 billion to manage the costs related to resolving U.S. government investigations.

This investigation by the DOJ was initiated after agents discovered an operation in New York and New Jersey that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars derived from illegal narcotics through TD Bank and other financial institutions, according to the Journal’s earlier report in May.

(*Exchange rate: $1 = 1.3512 Canadian dollars)