TD Bank Stymied in U.S. Bids, CEO Says

Toronto-Dominion Bank lost "several" bids for U.S. banks as it attempts to expand its footprint through acquisitions along the eastern seaboard, said Chief Executive Ed Clark.

"We probably haven't been as aggressive as perhaps we should have been," he said at National Bank Financial's Canadian Financial Services Conference in Montreal Tuesday. "The market is clearly making those deals a little less economic than they were before."

Toronto-based TD has previously said it was seeking to buy U.S. banks in Federal Deposit Insurance Co.-assisted deals, or transactions under $10 billion. Clark said attractive FDIC-assisted deals are still available and the bank will continue to bid on them.

He said the bank is looking at banks in states along the East Coast, in Florida and Southern California. TD would only expand in "pods" outside its footprint if the acquisition puts it in the top five in that particular area.

"We wouldn't go there if we weren't in the top five," he said.

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