Canada's Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre imposed a $9,185,000 administrative monetary penalty on Toronto-Dominion Bank on 9 April 2024, making it the largest financial penalty the regulator had levied against a major Canadian bank at that time. The action was publicly announced on 2 May 2024 and cited a range of compliance deficiencies identified during a supervisory examination of the bank's anti-money laundering programme, covering five violations: failure to report suspicious transactions, failure to assess and document money laundering and terrorist financing risks, failure to take prescribed special measures for high risk, failure to conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships, and failure to keep records of that monitoring.
FINTRAC said the penalty had been paid in full by TD and that proceedings had ended. The penalty exceeded the previous largest FINTRAC penalty on a bank, the C$7,475,000 imposed on Royal Bank of Canada in November 2023.
FAILURES IN REPORTING AND DUE DILIGENCE
FINTRAC's examination found that TD Bank had failed to submit suspicious transaction reports in circumstances where the obligation to report was triggered under Canada's Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.
The examination also found that TD had failed to assess and document money laundering and terrorist financing risks, failed to take the prescribed special measures for high-risk situations, and failed to conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships.
FINTRAC also found that the bank had failed to keep records of the measures taken and information obtained when conducting ongoing monitoring of business relationships.
LARGEST FINTRAC SANCTION AGAINST A MAJOR BANK
Prior to this action, FINTRAC had imposed administrative monetary penalties on a range of financial institutions across the spectrum of reporting entities covered by the proceeds of crime legislation, but had not previously levied a penalty of this magnitude against one of Canada's systemically important domestic banks.
FINTRAC stressed that the penalty was imposed for administrative violations under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, not for criminal offences for money laundering or terrorist activity financing.