The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that TD Bank's money-laundering misadventures in the United States resulted in more than $4-billion in penalties and other costs, taking a huge bite out of the company's 2024 profits. The Globe's David Milstead writes except, that is, in one special place: the performance formula used to calculate executive pay. In determining whether it had met its earnings goals in 2024, TD excluded the costs of paying the penalties the U.S. government assessed after the bank pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from money laundering. A more accurate, lower estimate of profits could have seen TD executives take a bigger cut to incentive pay. Since TD's board made a discretionary cut of 25 per cent to incentive pay, and gave former chief executive officer Bharat Masrani no bonus or stock awards, the money at issue is not particularly large in the grand scheme of things. It certainly pales compared with the decision to allow Mr. Masrani to keep his TD stock options, which could yield more than $100-million in future profits. It is a reminder of how Canadian companies find it exceptionally difficult to empty the pockets of their executives after extraordinarily poor performance.