TD Bank has been ordered to pay approximately $3 billion in penalties for its multi-year violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions to take regulated steps to detect and prevent money laundering. According to the charges, TD Bank allowed three major networks to illegally move $670 million through bank channels. It now holds the title of the largest bank in US history to have pled guilty to money laundering charges.
TD Bank is based in Canada and is rated as the 10th largest bank in the United States. Details of the case revealed that employees even joked about the accessibility of TD Bank’s services to criminals due to its lax security protocols. Narcotics. Terrorism. Trafficking. The networks of illicit activity profiting through these money laundering channels were varied and ugly.
TD Bank to Pay $3 Billion in Historic Settlement
While some TD Bank employees have been prosecuted for their involvement, others apparently have been raising red flags for years. In compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act), federal regulations require that all financial institutions employ programs aimed at preventing the financing of terrorism and the detection and prevention of money laundering, including regular training of employees on AML measures. According to authorities, TD Bank had AML programs outlined but failed to adequately and consistently implement and enforce them.
TD Bank Faces $3 Billion Settlement
We can’t help but remember another time TD Bank was in the news. The world watched while we all coped with the lockdowns of COVID-19, as the Freedom Convoy protested the vaccine mandates and pandemic procedures that were impeding their ability to do their jobs. While every citizen of the United States and Canada felt the impact of supply chain disruptions, these truckers exercised their legal right to peacefully protest, standing up for their own medical freedom and their desire to continue on their cross-border routes that were critical to the supply chains.
Fundraisers in support of the protestors raised millions before cancel-culture put up the roadblocks. In cooperation with the Canadian government, TD Bank and others froze the personal accounts of the demonstrators in an attempt to end the protest. In all, over 200 accounts holding more than $8 million were frozen. This came after GoFundMe put the fundraisers on ice as well.
TD Bank Freezes Accounts for Trucker Protest
The improper action taken against the Freedom Convoy became one of the inspirations for both Old Glory Bank and Old Glory Alliance. At the core of our values is the belief that no law-abiding citizen should ever be canceled for exercising their legal, constitutional rights.
It is also our core belief that you reap what you sow. TD Bank seems to be learning that lesson the expensive way.