TD Bank’s international anti-counterfeiting founding officer has stepped down

By Nivedita Balu

TORONTO (Reuters) – TD Bank said on Thursday that its global anti-fraud officer, Herbert Mazarigos, would step down effective immediately.

Mazariegos joined TD in November 2023 from the Bank of Montreal, where he served as Chief Anti-Money Laundering Officer for over four years. It was hired as part of TD’s push to improve its risk and compliance team.

Mazarigos will be replaced by Jacqueline Sanjus, TD’s head of US financial crime risk management, while appointed executive Bharat Masrani will lead the charge, the bank said.

Toronto-based AML industry expert Sean Parker TD has remedied the damage by hiring Sanjuas, who joined the bank in January 2024 and has two decades of experience in compliance and risk management.

Stephen Joyce, vice president of financial crime risk management transformation and enablement, will be appointed interim head of financial crime risk management for TD’s Canadian and global operations, excluding the US.

Joyce reports to Sanjuas.

“I am confident these changes will position financial crime risk management for success,” Chief Risk Officer Ajay Bambawale said in a memo to staff Thursday, thanking Mazariegos for his “contributions … during a difficult time.”

Bambawale said in the memo that Mazariegos’ departure was based on mutual agreement.

TD faces an asset cap and a $3-billion fine following a probe by US agencies into the lender’s anti-money laundering program, forcing it to halt its forecasting.

The lender has run into trouble with U.S. regulators over the failure of its risk and compliance program for issues ranging from fentanyl and narcotic trafficking to terrorist financing.

TD announced last week that Masrani, who took full responsibility for anti-money laundering failures, was due to resign in February, more than two months ahead of schedule.

(Reporting by Nivedita in Toronto, Editing by Carolyn Stauffer and Rod Nickell)