In 2024, banks worldwide faced significant penalties, totaling $4.5 billion, with TD Bank responsible for two-thirds of that amount after its guilty plea for violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
According to data from Finbold, the U.S. government ordered banks to pay $4.08 billion—90.67% of the total fines—across 19 different penalties. TD Bank alone accounted for approximately $3.09 billion following a multi-agency investigation that revealed inadequate controls allowing its American subsidiary to launder illicit funds.
JPMorgan Chase incurred the second-largest fine at $348.2 million due to an “inadequate program to monitor firm and client trading activities for market misconduct.” The UK followed with the second-highest number of fines, issuing ten penalties totaling $261.7 million. Notably, British and Swedish regulators imposed the largest individual penalties outside of the U.S.
In January 2024, the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority fined HSBC $74.12 million for failing to protect depositors adequately. Later in the year, Swedish authorities penalized Klarna Bank AB $46 million for anti-money laundering violations.
Andreja Stojanovic, co-author of the report, remarked, “While the U.S. has a disproportionately high total for penalties, the individual fines recorded—33% of 57 total fines—are more in line with expectations, especially considering that the country is home to over 4,000 banks.”