| COMPANY |
The Toronto-Dominion Bank |
| COURT |
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York |
| CASE NUMBER |
24-cv-08032 |
| JUDGE |
The Hon. Arun Srinivas |
| CLASS PERIOD |
March 7, 2022 through October 9, 2024 |
| SECURITY TYPE |
Securities |
LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 23, 2024.
If you have suffered losses and would like to discuss your rights, please fill out this form or you may contact Jonathan Naji, Esq. at (484) 270-1453 or via e-mail at info@ktmc.com.
Case Background:
The Class Period begins on March 7, 2022, when TD filed its 2022 investor proxy on Form 6-K with the SEC. In the proxy statement, TD discussed its Audit Committee’s efforts to ensure compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) regulations. Specifically, TD asserted that the Audit Committee, “[r]eceived updates from the internal audit, finance, compliance and global anti-money laundering functions to satisfy itself that there are adequate resources with experience and knowledge in each of the key oversight functions” and “[o]versaw the execution and ongoing effectiveness of the anti-money laundering/anti-terrorist financing/economic sanctions/anti-bribery and anti-corruption program (AML program), including the related risk assessment.”
On May 2, 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) was investigating the company’s AML controls with particular focus on “how Chinese crime groups and drug traffickers use TD to launder money from the sale of fentanyl in the United States. According to the Journal, “[t]he investigation was launched after agents uncovered an operation . . . that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds . . . through TD.” The report further revealed that Canadian regulators fined TD $6.7 million for failing to file required suspicious activity reports related to money laundering. On this news, the price of TD stock price fell $3.42 per share, or approximately 6%, from a close of $58.08 per share on May 2, 2024, to close at $54.66 per share on May 3, 2024.
On October 10, 2024, TD disclosed that it had pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $3 billion in penalties to resolve investigations by U.S. authorities into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and money laundering. The resolution of the investigations also included an asset cap preventing TD's U.S. subsidiaries from collectively exceeding $434 billion in assets and subjects TD to more stringent approval processes for its products, services, and market rollouts. In a corresponding press release, the DOJ described TD as "the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first US bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering." On this news, TD's stock price fell $4.07 per share, or 6.41%, to close at $59.44 per share on October 10, 2024.
The complaints allege that, during the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) since January 2014, “pervasive” and “systematic deficiencies” plagued TD’s AML controls; (2) despite the foregoing, TD “chose profits over compliance” and “failed to appropriately fund and staff its AML program, opting to postpone and cancel necessary AML project” to keep its costs down instead; (3) as a result, TD failed to adequately monitor the vast majority of its total transactions, which allowed criminals to launder money using the company’s banking products and services, resulting in TD being forced to pay over $3 billion in fines and penalties; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
What is a Lead Plaintiff?
A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member’s claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Filling out the online form above or communicating with any counsel is not necessary to participate or share in any recovery achieved in this case. Any member of the purported class may move the court to serve as a lead plaintiff through counsel of his/her choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an inactive class member.