TD's latest black eye: A US$28-million fine for sharing inaccurate info about customers

financialpost.com:

Toronto-Dominion Bank has been ordered to pay about US$28 million by authorities in the United States for repeatedly sharing inaccurate information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.

Canada’s second-largest bank has been asked by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to pay US$7.76 million in total to “tens of thousands of victims of the bank’s illegal actions” and US$20 million in civil money penalty.

“The CFPB’s investigation found that TD Bank illegally threatened the consumer reports of its customers with fraudulent information and then barely lifted a finger to fix it,” CFPB director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “Rather than treating its customers fairly and following the law, TD Bank’s management clearly cared more about growth and expanding its empire.”

Consumer reports such as credit reports, employment screening reports and tenant screening reports are used by financial institutions, employers, landlords and others to decide whether to extend credit, housing or employment to a person.

The inaccurate information shared by TD was due to accounts that were fraudulently opened, CFPB said, but the bank took far too long to correct many of its errors once it realized its error.

TD spokesperson Miranda Garrison said TD had self-identified these matters “long before this settlement.”

TD implemented “enhancements to our furnishing and dispute handling practices. TD cooperated fully to resolve this matter and is committed to continuing to deliver on its responsibilities to its customers,” she said in a statement.

The latest fine adds to TD’s existing woes as the bank posted a rare loss in its third quarter due to the US$2.6 billion it is keeping aside to resolve the anti-money laundering