Money laundering

Executives at the Toronto-based bank said last year that they planned to add 150 branches in the United States. But when pressed on Thursday, they could not say how much they'll scale back their ambitions due to investigations over TD's anti-money laundering practices.

Executives at the Canadian bank, which recently took a major provision for potential fines, say they're working to shore up anti-money laundering controls. At the same time, they're preparing employees and investors for an expensive slog as they work to satisfy U.S. officials.

A veteran Canadian bank analyst says Toronto-Dominion Bank's role in an alleged money-laundering scheme has made the "worst-case scenario" more likely — a huge fine for the lender and years of restrictions on its U.S. growth.

Toronto-Dominion failed to submit suspicious-transaction reports in cases where it was reasonable to suspect the transfers were tied to money laundering or terrorist financing, along with other violations, according to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.

Toronto-Dominion Bank has taken an initial provision of $450 million in connection with U.S. investigations into its anti-money-laundering practices and said it expects additional penalties to come.

With financial crime surging worldwide, it is critical that the public and private sectors align on a shared vision to collectively focus on combating bad actors and to eliminate their ability to launder the proceeds of criminal activity.

The collection of beneficial ownership data is vital to fighting money laundering. It should be more broadly accessible, and should cover more businesses.

A new report sheds light on the lack of player protections against scams and exploitive data collection practices of video game companies.

The steady drumbeat of consent orders against banks that offer banking as a service continues, with regulators telling banks to keep a closer eye on their fintech partners' compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and money laundering rules.

Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Fiercely polarized U.S. politics. Rapidly multiplying payments options on social media networks and elsewhere. Those factors and more are making it harder than ever for banks to combat illicit financial transactions.