By AML Intelligence Correspondent
AML controls at Canada’s TD Bank have been deemed unsatisfactory, an inspection by regulator FINTRAC has found.
Canada’s second biggest lender is now facing a significant monetary penalty from the financial-crimes watchdog after an examination found the lender allegedly had faulty AML controls.
The Globe and Mail newspaper reported the monetary penalty is expected to exceed C$10 million ($7.44 million), which could be the biggest ever penalty slapped on a Canadian financial institution by the country’s anti-money laundering agency.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), which is preparing to impose the penalty, completed an assessment of the lender in late 2023 and deemed its anti-money laundering compliance to be unsatisfactory, the report said, citing five people familiar with the matter.
TD Bank said it was improving its AML program and had appointed new executives and advisers to head those efforts.
“On an ongoing basis, TD is actively engaged with law enforcement and our regulators, including FINTRAC, to combat criminal activity,” the lender said in a statement.
FINTRAC said on Friday it was prohibited from disclosing information on compliance actions in relation to a specific business.
The watchdog has stepped up monitoring after the federal government added new powers relating to national security.
Last month, the agency fined two of the country’s big banks — Royal Bank of Canada and CIBC — for a total of about C$9 million for violations that included failing to submit suspicious transaction reports, the first time it has taken such action.
TD Bank is also facing a rare probe and a likely fine by the U.S. Department of Justice related to its AML practices, shortly after it called off its First Horizon acquisition.
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