Two unidentified cryptocurrency exchanges in the United Kingdom and Colombia may have been involved in TD Bank’s recent debacle.
On October 10, TD Bank’s US subsidiary consented to pay over $3 billion in penalties and accept restrictions on its growth trajectory in the United States to resolve allegations of inadequate money laundering supervision by criminal organizations.
Financial Crimes Enforcement issued a report on October 10 that indicated TD Bank’s transfer volume was associated with two unidentified cryptocurrency firms, totaling over $1 billion, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
An obscure organization, “Customer Group C,” executed the transactions. This organization is purportedly involved in the “real estate and sales finance industries.”
FinCEN’s report specifies the following:
“Customer Group C conducted over $1 billion in transactions through TD Bank during the relevant period, with over 90% of the incoming funds from a UK-based cryptocurrency exchange and more than 60% of outgoing transactions sent as wires to a Colombian financial institution that also offers virtual asset-related services.”
In “high-risk” jurisdictions such as Colombia, China, and countries in the Middle East, the customer above group conducted an average of over $100 million in monthly wire transfers, most of which “facilitated apparent third-party cryptocurrency trading,” according to FinCEN.
TD Bank Issue Explained
“Customer Group C” has received over $650 million in bank transfers from an international cryptocurrency exchange, which TD Bank has facilitated.
This type of volume “significantly deviated” from the customer group’s induction documentation, as per FinCEN. The report included the following:
“During this time, Customer Group C received more than $650 million from an international cryptocurrency exchange platform, where the purpose, ultimate originators, and source of funds were unknown to TD Bank.”
TD Bank continued to execute transactions, including the facilitation of over $420 million to a “financial institution offering cryptocurrency services in the high-risk jurisdiction of Colombia,” despite the funds’ unknown origins.
In 2023, TD Bank closed its previous cryptocurrency Unit
For a brief period, TD Bank experimented with the cryptocurrency market. TD Cowen, an independent investment bank in the United States, established Cowen Digital in March 2022 to offer institutional clients exposure to the crypto market through 16 crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ether.
In June 2023, TD Cowen retired its crypto unit without explaining the decision.
In August 2022, TD Bank Group acquired the Cowen Bank for $1.3 billion in a transaction finalized in March 2023, three months before the closure of the crypto wing.
The closure came amid several crypto company collapses last year, alongside the US banking and regulatory crisis in 2023.