Financial crimes

TD Bank's guilty plea to extensive money-laundering charges last week did not include any criminal charges against individual bank executives. That absence has critics fuming, but experts say bringing charges against individuals isn't so easy.

For more than a decade, the bank allowed billions of dollars from illicit activities to flow through the U.S. financial system unchecked. Some are wondering why examiners didn't put a stop to it sooner.

Regulators' asset cap on TD Bank for money-laundering violations has cemented the enforcement tool as a supreme cudgel to rein in problem banks, while other tools devised in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis gather dust.

The Canadian bank is indefinitely prohibited from growing assets at its two U.S. subsidiaries as the result of a sweeping settlement over money-laundering violations. While only the second imposition of such a penalty ever, experts say it will not be the last.

The sweeping enforcement actions will be a watershed event for TD Bank's U.S. subsidiary, which had previously been a promising growth engine.

Regulators have never held a hearing on whether to revoke the charter of a bank convicted of a money-laundering-related violation. As TD Bank nears a "global resolution" in connection with its compliance failures, it's unlikely to buck the trend.

The Federal Reserve has lifted a 2013 order relating to anti-money-laundering compliance issues, including in the megabank's now-defunct Banamex USA unit.

TD Bank must pay more than $20 million to resolve investigations over a former trader's alleged placement of "spoof" orders to manipulate the Treasuries market.

An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would expand access to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's beneficial ownership database. That would allow financial firms to cut off drug traffickers' financing.

A hearing included discussion of European laws that will put banks on the hook for fraud schemes, and whether the U.S. needs a digital identity standard.

A new OCC action over the megabank's anti-money-laundering guardrails, which follows news of seemingly more severe lapses at TD Bank, is raising concerns that a broader crackdown is at hand.

The penalty by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a major setback for the San Francisco bank, which was freed from a separate anti-money-laundering order in 2021. Its stock price fell sharply after the news broke.

Reports of fraud committed against financial companies are on pace to, for the first time, fall this year compared with 2023. Consumer reports of fraud are also down.

Shutting down Telegram could disrupt fraudsters targeting banks, according to experts. With charges against CEO Pavel Durov, the idea appears more than hypothetical.

New rules from Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will mandate reporting for non-financed real estate transfers and expand anti-money-laundering requirements for investment advisors.

The New York State Department of Financial Services issued a consent order against Finland-based Nordea Bank, citing deficiencies related to the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering requirements.

The Toronto-based bank also expects a "global resolution" of investigations by U.S. authorities to be finalized by the end of the year.

Shan Hanes, the former leader of Heartland Tri-State Bank, previously pleaded guilty to embezzling tens of millions of dollars in a cryptocurrency scheme that caused the Kansas bank's failure.

A judge postponed to Aug. 19 the scheduled sentencing date for Shan Hanes, the ex-CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank who admitted to embezzling $47 million from the lender, leading to its downfall.

The Biden Administration firmly rejects proposed cuts to key financial oversight and consumer protection agencies in the Republican-backed financial services appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025.