The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that the most striking thing about U.S. Attorney-General Merrick Garland's takedown of TD Bank on Thursday was not the criminal conviction, the $3.09-billion in penalties or the freeze on future growth in the U.S. market (all figures U.S.). The Globe's Andrew Willis writes that the shocking element of this debacle was the TD employee e-mails Mr. Garland read aloud. They spoke to a culture that is going to haunt the bank as incoming chief executive officer Raymond Chun tries to restore the bank's credibility. Year after year, TD branch staff, managers and compliance officials joked about laundering money for drug dealers. In three separate e-mails that Mr. Garland read aloud at the news conference, TD employees' reaction to suspicious activity, such as customers dropping off $1-million in cash and withdrawing the same day in cheques, was to send a note ending with LOL (laugh out loud) to colleagues. "In one instance a compliance employee asked a manager what 'the bad guys' thought about the bank. The manager replied: 'Lol. Easy target,'" Mr. Garland said. When bankers consistently tack "LOL" to e-mails and texts about working with criminals, there is a serious problem.
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