CLASS ACTION FILED AGAINST FOUR OF TD BANK'S MOST SENIOR EXECUTIVES FOR DECEIVING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE BANK'S RAMPANT AND SYSTEMIC MONEY LAUNDERING PROBLEMS

Lost in the extensive media coverage of the $3.09bn penalty contained in the Plea Agreement against TORONTO DOMINION BANK, better known as TD BANK, is the fact that a massive Class Action suit has been filed, in US District Court for the Southern District of New York, against the four most senior officers in the bank, alleging that they deceived the investing public, regarding the size of the money laundering problems that the bank had, how it could be remedied, and how much the penalty would ultimately cost. The damning thing is that these defendants actually made this material misrepresentations of fact, on the record, in telephone conference calls to investors and shareholders of the bank, many of which are actually quoted verbatim in the 35 page Complaint for Violations of the Federal Securities Laws. Their omissions of material facts, spinning of the truth, and outright lies are shocking to most legal observers who have reviewed the transcripts. 

Named as defendants:

(1) BHARAT B. MASRANI, Group President, CEO and Director.

(2) LEOVIGILDO SALOM, Group Head of US Retail, and CEO of TD Bank.

(3) KELVIN VI LUAN TRAN, Group Head, and CFO of TD Bank.

(4) RIAZ E. AHMED, Group Head of Wholesale Banking at TD.                                                                

The Complaint charges, at Count I, violations of §10(b) of the Securities Act, and Rule 10b-5 and at Count II, violations of §20(a) of the 1934 Exchange Act.  Soke of the Office of Comptroller of Currency (OCC) findings of fact were cited in the Complaint, and they are extraordinary:  

"The Comptroller finds, and the Bank neither admits nor denies, the following:

 (1) The Bank failed to develop and provide for the continued administration of a BSA/AML Program reasonably designed to assure and monitor compliance with the BSA and its implementing regulations, in violation of 12 C.F.R. § 21.21. Deficiencies in the Bank’s BSA/AML Program included deficiencies Case 1:24-cv-08032-AS Document 1 Filed 10/22/24 Page 21 of 35 22 related to: internal controls and risk management practices; risk assessments; customer due diligence; customer risk ratings; suspicious activity identification, evaluation, and reporting; governance; staffing; independent testing; and training, among others. 

(2) The Bank had significant, long-standing, systemic breakdowns in its transaction monitoring program.  

(3) Since at least 2020, the Bank processed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of transactions with clear indicia of highly suspicious activity, creating a potential for significant money laundering, terrorist financing, or other illicit financial transactions. The Bank repeatedly failed to take appropriate and timely corrective action to address the highly suspicious activity and failed to properly emphasize BSA/AML compliance. 

(4) The Bank had a systemic breakdown in its policies, procedures, and processes to identify and report suspicious activity, and a pattern or practice of noncompliance with the SAR filing requirement, resulting in numerous violations of 12 C.F.R. § 21.11 (suspicious activity report violations). 

(5) The Bank violated 31 C.F.R. § 1010.312 (currency transaction report violations) on numerous occasions.

 (6) The Bank failed to implement appropriate risk-based procedures for conducting ongoing customer due diligence in violation of 31 C.F.R. § 1020.210(a)(2)(v).

 (7) The Bank recklessly engaged in unsafe or unsound practices related to the Bank’s BSA/AML Program.

 (8) The Bank’s violations and recklessly unsafe or unsound practices were part of a pattern, and caused and are likely to cause more than a minimal loss to the Bank."

Plaintiffs' counsel is the New York office of the law firm of BLEICHMAR FONTI & AULD LLP, which specialises in securities litigation. We will be closely monitoring this case, as well as checking to see whether any bank officers are individually charged with criminal activity, after a very senior Department of Justice official stated that corrupt bank employees facilitated a criminal network's laundering of tens of millions of dollars.