I'm sure when you see headlines like above, a little voice in your head goes off. It says, "Take all your money out of the bank and convert it to valuable metals and jewels and hoard it in your house like a dragon. It is the only safe way to avoid the collapsing US economy. Your money is not safe in banks, it's time to panic." Well, no, it isn't, actually.
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Despite TD Bank closing 38 of its 1,100 stores, it's nothing to worry about. The huge US bank may be tightening its belt, but it is due to its own mistakes. They were recently fined $3.2 billion after an investigation into money laundering found that they were complicit.
In the US, several businesses of every kind have experienced economic hardships as of late. Everything from hospitals to fast food chains are filing for bankruptcy. However, this isn't the case for this major bank. They're just paying the price for not keeping an eye on some of their shady customers.
There are strict rules in place to prevent people from cleaning money acquired in ways the government deems illegal. Regular investigations are in place to ensure banks aren't helping criminals bank their funds. However, it appears TD Bank has been a little naughty.
TD Bank Found Guilty Of Bribery And Laundering
An investigation into TD Bank found that they had been allowing customers to launder money earned from fentanyl and narcotics sales. The investigation also revealed that some staff had been bribed by the drug traffickers.
This came with a hefty fine, unsurprisingly. They pleaded guilty to the charges, making them the largest bank to plead guilty to federal charges. The $3.2 billion fine has hit them where it hurts and resulted in a number of branch closures.
There have been significant amounts of branch closures across the banking industry in the past year or so. But this is hardly surprising. I can't remember the last time I needed to visit a bank branch. With most people doing their banking online, there is little need for them.
The US is moving towards a cashless society, but there are still around 200 million people making cash deposits. The closure of local branches will result in longer waiting times for these people, but at least it makes the drug dealers' job a little harder.
