TD Bank Shares Plummet

        Ahhhhhhhh, banks and bankers: so removed from the real world. Too much money and never enough for corporate moguls. So, the regulators slapped the US subsidiary with a $3.1 billion penalty plus an asset cap on retail accounts, the most painful part of the fine. How did this happen? How does a large, modern corporation slip into this realm of criminal activity? Who is responsible? Where is management? Who's the boss?

       Well now, what message accompanied the fine? Seems a few years back, drug cartel money was floating around hither and yon, looking for a place to hide/launder. A large portion of the funds came from Colombia(really), the world's No.1 producer source of cocaine. Agents of the cartel were sent abroad shopping for a laundry facility: a bank that had loose controls on cash deposits. Of course, these agents had pocket change to tempt bank employees. How much money are we talkin' here? Hundreds of millions- 9 figures++++. So, needless to say, the temptation was too much for the average TD Bank schlubs. They succumbed to the "chump change" and welcomed the cash. It made them look good to the supervising executives, aka- bankers.

      Money laundering schemes are large and small and vary as to methods. Rules are in place and oversight is steady from bureaus charged with controls in place. Other banks have been fined and placed on probation, Wells Fargo the poster child of fined money laundering institutions. Wells Fargo profits have been dismal as it attempts to turn the corporate ship around on a "new" course that FOLLOWS THE LAW.

     Now TD BANK faces the same course change requirement. The problem is in the culture of banking management and operations. The slipshod internal oversight runs deep in the culture of these corporations. Any attempt to change is a long and rocky process. Individuals need to be sent packing/retired. Others will be shown the door w/o benefit. The Captain(s)-board members will have to be dealt with harshly and they too will be replaced. These moves help, but the past practices are difficult to erase and replace. And dirty money is still afloat, swirling around in the financial eddies seeking a hiding place wherever it could be.

      Banking has changed over the decades along with rules and regs. As mergers and acquisitions consolidated banks, fewer and fewer institutions were found available and mega-corporations replaced small town operations. The result: large monolithic, monopolistic national banks. Staid bankers now became the envy of Wall Streeters. Jealousy sprouted; Ivy League grad schools started churning out aggressive financiers looking to make a million quickly. They found homes in banks and on Wall St. Thus, the business world is stuck with them and their ilk as they strive, strive, strive, and cheat , cheat, cheat. See banking profits after high interest rates roared across the landscape. Did any depositers benefit? None. Did banks profit? Massively, as they collected massive amounts of profits at the expense of retail customers.

Ahhhhhhh, bankers.