FinCEN Unveils TD Bank’s Suspicious Crypto Trading Activities

• FinCEN reveals TD Bank’s suspicious crypto trading activities with Customer Group C.
• TD Bank facilitated over $420 million to a bank offering crypto services in Columbia through Customer Group C.
• A concerning pattern in Customer Group C’s activities involved monthly wire transfers of more than $100M.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is investigating Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank), the sixth-largest bank in North America, for potential involvement in suspicious cryptocurrency trading activities. The investigation revealed TD Bank’s ties with an unknown entity called “Customer Group C” and its failure to disclose these activities.

This probe is part of a broader investigation that led to TD Bank receiving a $3 billion penalty for anti-money laundering (AML) failures. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) fined TD Bank $3.09 billion for failing to monitor a significant portion of its transactions, leaving 92% of its total transaction volume unchecked between January 1, 2018, and April 12, 2024.

The DOJ said the bank “deliberately chose not to monitor” these transactions and had “long-term, pervasive, and systemic deficiencies” in its AML policies and procedures.

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The DOJ’s investigation and subsequent penalty revealed the bank’s connection with two unknown cryptocurrency firms in Colombia and the United Kingdom. According to FinCEN, TD Bank sent over $420 million to a bank offering crypto services in Colombia, a high-risk jurisdiction, through Customer Group C.

FinCEN identified a concerning pattern in Customer Group C’s activities that involved monthly wire transfers of more than $100 million. These transfers facilitated third-party crypto trading with ties to high-risk sectors and countries such as Colombia, China, and the Middle East.

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From July 2023 to April 2024, Customer Group C’s transactions exceeded $1 billion. While 90% of the transactions were linked to an unnamed UK-based crypto exchange, 60% of the outflows went to an unnamed Colombian bank. FinCEN also identified the group’s association with an international crypto exchange. While the platform remains undisclosed, the agency stated that Customer Group C received over $650 million from the firm.