TD Bank will pay $3 billion as part of a historic money laundering settlement with the Justice Department

Attorney General Merrick Garland announces at a news conference Thursday at the Justice Department that TD Bank will pay about $3 billion in restitution after authorities said the financial institution’s lax practices enabled significant money laundering. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

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

Canada-based TD Bank pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money, becoming the largest bank in U.S. history to do so, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

“TD Bank created an environment that allowed financial crime to thrive,” Garland said. “By making its services convenient for criminals, it has become one.”

The CEO of the bank, the 10th largest bank in the United States, said it took full responsibility and had cooperated 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 will continue to take action to address these errors and hold those responsible accountable.”

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

According to authorities, the institution became the bank of choice for several criminals and money laundering organizations.

“From fentanyl and drug trafficking to terrorist financing and human trafficking, TD Bank’s chronic bankruptcies provided fertile ground for a variety of illegal activities to penetrate our financial system,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.

In one case, bank employees helped a criminal network 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 totaling 40 to 50 times the daily limits, said Philip Sellinger, U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

The bank’s “long-term, pervasive and systemic deficiencies” in its policies over a nine-year period allowed such abuses to flourish, 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 supervision and five years of probation.

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