Trudeau ‘concerned’ about TD Bank’s actions in U.S. money laundering case

The comments appear to mark the first public acknowledgement by Trudeau of the case, which saw TD fined over US$3 billion to settle money laundering charges.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is “concerned” about the actions of TD Bank’s U.S. subsidiaries that led to a historic US$3-billion plea deal to settle money laundering charges this month.

Trudeau made the comments during question period in the House of Commons Wednesday when asked by NDP MP Don Davies what the Liberals have done to “address repeated criminal actions of TD Bank.”

“We’re of course very concerned by the actions of TD Bank in the United States,” the prime minister responded.

“We make sure every single day that banks in Canada behave by following all the rules. We have continued to strengthen financial oversight and we are making sure there is full accountability for those responsible for this wrongdoing in the United States.”

The comment appear to be the first public acknowledgement by Trudeau or any minister of the case, which saw TD plead guilty to violating a U.S. law aimed at preventing money laundering — the largest bank ever to do so.

At the time the settlement was announced, Canada’s superintendent of financial institutions Peter Routledge said in a statement the information disclosed in the case was “serious” but could not comment on the affairs of any Canadian federally regulated financial institution.

The U.S. government had accused TD of ignoring multiple red flags from high-risk customers and creating a “convenient” environment for bad actors to exploit. TD failed to monitor over US$18 trillion in customer activity for about a decade, enabling three money laundering networks to transfer illicit funds through accounts at the bank, U.S. authorities said.

In addition to the more than US$3-billion fine, the plea deal included a rare asset cap on TD’s U.S. business interests, which is typically reserved for severe cases. The penalty dealt a major blow to TD, which is the 10th largest bank in the U.S. and was planning to expand further.