The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that 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 and strict limits on the lender's U.S. growth. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post quotes Jefferies analyst John Aiken saying in a note to clients Monday: "With the bank allegedly a focal institution in a drug money-laundering scheme, the worst-case scenario has become more likely with TD potentially entering a lost decade. Growth in the U.S. will likely be constrained and the timeline for a fix is extended by several years." TD plunged into the U.S. regional banking market nearly two decades ago when it acquired a majority share of Banknorth Group, and it has been a serial acquirer since, focusing on markets in the Eastern United States. Now the bank is sidelined by its regulatory woes. The "simple math" implies TD will have to pay $2-billion (U.S.), Mr. Aiken said. "However, as there is absolutely no certainty around how the regulators are going to proceed, the standard deviations around this estimate is likely measured in billions, rather than hundreds of millions."