Terence Corcoran: The global plan to turn banks into money cops
In the wake of TD Bank’s recent money-laundering guilty plea, with a steep US$3-billion penalty and the imposition of roadblocks to future growth in the United States, it is now established fact that the bank experienced justice under U.S. anti-money-laundering laws. A Financial Times commentary stated: “The punishments are severe. But then again, so were the failings.” It’s a perspective shared by media commentary everywhere.
TD executives signed a grovelling 31-page statement of guilt with the U.S. Department of Justice and were subject to a demagogic put-down from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said the bank created an environment “that allowed financial crime to flourish.” The bank, he said, “chose profits over compliance,” and by making its services available to criminals, “it became one.”
Under itsplea agreement, TD Bank cannot ever — ever — publicly come to its own defence. The bank “expressly agrees that it shall not, through present or future parents, affiliates, attorneys, officers, directors, employees, agents, or any other person authorized to speak for the defendant, make any public statement, in litigation or otherwise, contradicting the acceptance of responsibility.” Any contradictory statement made by the bank shall “constitute a breach of this Agreement and the Defendant shall be subject to prosecution.”
If TD Bank can’t come to its own defence, allow me to take a whack at arguing that the bank is trapped in questionable and extreme legal structures and procedures that surround U.S. anti-money-laundering (AML) legislation. Under the laws, which have expanded in scope over half a century, banks and financial institutions are now forced to act as police investigators and enforcers. Whereas
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