TD Bank to Pay $3 Billion in Landmark Money Laundering Settlement with Justice Department

WASHINGTON — TD Bank will pay about $3 billion in a historic settlement with U.S. authorities who said Thursday the financial institution’s lax practices enabled significant money laundering over several years.

Canada-based TD Bank has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money, making it the largest bank in U.S. history, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. The bank’s U.S. headquarters is in Cherry Hill.

“TD Bank created an environment that allowed financial crime to thrive,” Garland said. “By making his services practical for criminals, he became one.”

The CEO of the bank, the 10th largest bank in the United States, said she took full responsibility and was cooperating with the investigation.

“This is a difficult chapter in our bank’s history,” TD Bank CEO Bharat Masrani said in a statement. “The Board has taken and continues to take steps to address these failures and hold those responsible accountable.”

The Justice Department said the bank allowed money laundering rings to move $670 million through TD Bank accounts over a period of several years.

The institution has become the bank of choice for many criminals and money laundering organizations, authorities said.

“From fentanyl and narcotics trafficking to terrorist financing and human trafficking, TD Bank’s chronic bankruptcies have provided fertile ground for a host of illicit activities to enter our financial system,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.

In one case, bank employees helped a criminal ring launder tens of millions of dollars, said Nicole Argentieri, chief of the department’s criminal division.

There were also piles of cash dumped on bank counters and ATM withdrawals that totaled 40 to 50 times the daily limits, said Philip Sellinger, a U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

The bank’s “long-term, widespread and systemic deficiencies” in its policies over a nine-year period allowed such abuses to proliferate, prosecutors said.

Two dozen people have been prosecuted for involvement in money laundering schemes, including two TD Bank employees, Garland said. The investigation is ongoing.

The bank also agreed to a major restructuring of the corporate compliance program in its U.S. operations, as well as three years of monitoring and five years of probation.

The bank’s shares closed down 5.3% on Thursday.