TD BANK HAS COMMENCED TERMINATING ITS CORRESPONDENT RELATIONSHIP WITH BANK OF SAINT LUCIA

In breaking news, a reliable inside source in the banking industry has confirmed that TD BANK has commenced the closure of its existing correspondent banking relationship with the BANK OF SAINT LUCIA, Saint Lucia's largest financial institution. This represents the confirmation of unofficial information we had received earlier today; we understand that it is being kept strictly confidential within the Bank of St. Lucia.

The Bank of Saint Lucia, or BOSL, has come under fire of late, during allegations that the bank served the country's Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU), accepting payments made under Saint Lucia's Citizenship by Investment program which were illegally-discounted from the set purchase price, and failed to conduct effective due diligence upon such funds. The country's CBI/CIP program has been named in allegations of fraud, money laundering and corruption contained in a RICO complaint filed in Federal Court in the United States.

What effect the termination of the correspondent banking relationship between TD Bank and the Bank of Saint Lucia will have upon the economy of Saint Lucia, and upon other existing correspondent relationships between other US banks and financial institutions in the East Caribbean states have maintain CBI programs is not known at this point, but it is believed that the TD Bank action will have a definite effect on their viability, as part of the American banks' risk-based compliance programs.