TD Bank faces a record $3 billion fine for money laundering by drug cartels

TD Bank will pay $3 billion to settle allegations that it failed to properly police money laundering by drug cartels, regulators announced Thursday.

The fine includes a $1.3 billion fine to be paid to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a record fine for a bank. TD also plans to pay $1.8 billion to the U.S. Department of Justice and plead guilty to resolve the U.S. government’s investigation that the bank violated the Bank Secrecy Act and committed money laundering has allowed.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement that TD Bank had “longstanding, pervasive and systemic deficiencies” in its transaction monitoring procedures. More than 90% of transactions went unaudited between January 2018 and April 2024, allowing “three money laundering networks to collectively transfer more than $670 million through TD Bank accounts,” according to a legal filing.