TD Bank taps industry veterans for general counsel, finance head roles to bolster US team

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(Reuters) -Toronto Dominion Bank on Thursday named industry veterans Brian Callanan as U.S. general counsel and Andre Ramos as U.S. finance head in the Canadian lender’s latest push for a stronger footprint south of the border.

The changes, effective December 1, follow TD Bank’s record $3 billion U.S. penalty after it pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and related charges, triggering a regulatory cap on its U.S. assets and ongoing compliance remediation.

Despite the cap, TD Bank consistently highlights the U.S. as a key growth market. The bank, however, must report to an independent monitor that oversees operations, tracks risk and control improvements, and reports to regulators.

Callanan joins TD Bank from Liberty Strategic Capital, where he has held the roles of senior managing director and general counsel. Before that, he was the general counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Ramos spent over a decade at JPMorgan Chase in business CFO roles, most recently as consumer banking CFO. He has also held senior leadership roles in finance, treasury and pricing at American Express, HSBC and Citi.

The bank last month also named another JPMorgan veteran Jon Rasmussen as its U.S. chief compliance officer, as part of a broader rejig of its financial crime and risk management team.

“We have an ambitious plan to become a more efficient, profitable and powerful competitor in the U.S.,” said Leo Salom, President and CEO of TD Bank U.S.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)