TD Bank to Pay $3 Billion Penalty After Admitting to Money-Laundering

The bank admits to ‘deficiencies’ that enabled criminal networks, including drug traffickers, to launder more than $670 million over several years.

TD Bank signage in Toronto's financial district on Sept. 8, 2023. Andrew Lahodynsky/The Canadian Press

TD Bank, the 10th-largest bank in the United States, and parent company TD Bank Group pleaded guilty on Oct. 10 to conspiring to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and money-laundering, agreeing to pay about $3 billion in penalties as part of a historic settlement involving multiple regulatory agencies.

“By making its services convenient for criminals, TD Bank became one,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a press conference in Washington. “Today, TD Bank also 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.”