FinCEN Fines TD Bank $1 Billion for Facilitating Cryptocurrency Money Laundering

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Treasury Department found that TD Bank failed to report suspicious cryptocurrency-related activities amounting to nearly $1 billion.

According to the agency, over nine months, the bank processed transactions for a company identified in the plea agreement as Customer Group C.

When opening the account, the firm claimed to operate in sales financing and real estate, with an annual transaction volume not exceeding $1 million.

In reality, Customer Group C conducted transactions exceeding $1 billion. Approximately 90% of the funds came from an unnamed UK-based cryptocurrency exchange. Over 60% of outgoing transfers were sent to “a Colombian financial institution that also offers virtual asset-related services.”

Customer Group C did not inform the bank that it would be dealing with Colombia among its jurisdictions. The company also continued to engage with “high-risk industries and firms” in China and the Middle East.

“Despite the large volume of suspicious transactions and the ‘red flags’ associated with high-risk jurisdictions, as well as the rapid movement of funds over a short period, TD Bank did not promptly report this suspicious activity until it received several inquiries from law enforcement regarding Customer Group C,” the agreement states.

The agency noted that the bank has internal policies for handling transactions related to virtual assets, but there is no evidence of enhanced control measures being applied to this company’s operations.

During the investigation, FinCEN determined that TD Bank failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for transactions totaling approximately $1.5 billion.

The agency imposed a record fine of $1.3 billion on the financial institution for violating anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act.

Separately, TD Bank will pay: 

• The Department of Justice — $1.89 billion;
• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) — $450 million;
• The Federal Reserve System — $123.5 million.

The bank ranks tenth in the U.S. by assets, with a total of $367 billion. In 2023, TD Bank reported a net profit of approximately $2.3 billion.

In November 2023, the Department of Justice fined the cryptocurrency exchange Binance $4.3 billion for violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations.

In September 2024, the co-founder and former CEO of the platform was released after serving a four-month sentence.