PANews reported on October 14 that according to News.bitcoin, TD Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, agreed to pay a record $3 billion fine after pleading guilty to felony charges, the largest fine ever under the (Bank Secrecy Act). The bank is the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to a failed (Bank Secrecy Act) program and the first bank to admit conspiracy to money laundering. The Department of Justice emphasized the bank's compliance failures, which created an environment for rampant financial crimes.
TD Bank admitted to failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program between January 2014 and October 2023. During that period, the bank failed to monitor $18.3 trillion in customer activity, allowing three money laundering networks to move more than $670 million through its accounts. One of the schemes involved five bank employees. The bank’s automated transaction monitoring system, designed to flag suspicious activity, was intentionally ineffective. Senior executives, including the future chief anti-money laundering officer, were aware of the system’s flaws but failed to address them.