The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Toronto-Dominion Bank is facing a lawsuit from five former U.S. employees who claim they were wrongfully terminated amid a probe into the bank's anti-money-laundering shortcomings.
The Globe's Stefanie Marotta writes that a group of Chinese and Chinese-American employees from TD Bank in New York claim they were fired as the bank dealt with money-laundering breaches. In 2024, TD pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering after handling funds for criminal organizations for a decade.
The plaintiffs alleged that TD hired them to build relationships with Chinese customers but later fired them illegally and removed them as customers, a process called debanking. They claim this decision was made based on their ethnicity, according to court filings.
The plaintiffs are suing as a class action of Chinese and Chinese-American TD branch employees who were investigated and fired. They say they were terminated for "unspecified violations" of TD's code of ethics.
The Globe says TD declined a request for comment as the case is pending litigation. TD has hired hundreds of new anti-money-laundering and compliance employees as part of its remediation efforts.
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