TD Bank's Chief Compliance Officer Departs Amidst AML Program Probe

TD Bank’s Chief Compliance Officer, Monica Kowal, has left the bank, as revealed in an internal memo, while the Canadian lender faces scrutiny from U.S. regulators and the Justice Department regarding its anti-money laundering (AML) program.

Monica Kowal, who had been with TD Bank since 2017, departed the company this week. She will be succeeded by Deputy Chief Compliance Officer Erin Morrow, who will report to Chief Risk Officer Ajai Bambawale, according to the memo distributed in late June.

Bambawale did not mention the reason for Kowal’s departure in the memo. Chief Executive Officer Bharat Masrani has previously indicated that the bank has taken action against responsible employees, including terminations.

TD Bank declined to comment on Kowal’s departure, and Kowal was not immediately available for comment.

Erin Morrow joined TD in January after more than a decade at U.S. bank Citi. TD also brought in Marcy Forman and Jacqueline Sanjuas from Citi, as well as Chief Global Anti-Money Laundering Officer Herbert Mazariegos from BMO, to bolster its compliance team.

The bank has invested over $500 million in training programs, onboarding hundreds of AML professionals, and hiring executives to strengthen its regulatory program. This comes after CEO Bharat Masrani acknowledged in May that the bank’s AML program "fell short and did not effectively monitor, detect, report or respond," labeling the situation as “unacceptable.”

TD Bank has already set aside an initial provision of $450 million and expects additional monetary penalties. Analysts have estimated that fines could total as much as $4 billion.

By fLEXI tEAM