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Chun becomes CEO after three decades at bank

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Stock gets upgrades after CEO transition accelerated

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Chun says improving anti-money laundering program is priority

By Nivedita Balu

TORONTO, Feb 3 (Reuters) – A longtime TD Bank executive took over as the Canadian lender’s CEO on Saturday, tasked with steering it through an anti-money laundering remediation program after it paid a historic fine to U.S. regulators.

Raymond Chun, 55, has spent over 30 years at Canada’s second-largest bank, running TD’s wealth, insurance and Canadian personal banking business. As CEO he will be in charge of cleaning up the bank’s U.S. retail banking business, including the potential sale of certain assets.

Unlike other CEO contenders, Chun maintained a low profile on Bay Street – Toronto’s financial district – while running many of TD’s businesses and was known for his broad knowledge of the bank business, former colleagues and industry executives said.

Perhaps his biggest challenge in his new role will be proving he is capable of navigating regulatory issues in the U.S., given most of his career has been spent in Canada, some analysts said.

Chun takes over from Bharat Masrani as TD works through an anti-money laundering remediation program after U.S. regulators fined the bank $3 billion, imposed growth restrictions and appointed an independent monitor to track activity after they found criminals used the bank’s U.S branches to launder millions in fentanyl proceeds by bribing staff.

TD in December warned of a challenging 2025 and suspended its medium-term earnings forecast.

Some shareholders had floated the idea of an external candidate with knowledge of the U.S. banking business to help clear the bank’s image as it works with regulators, so the pressure is on Chun to prove he can give the bank a fresh start.

Chun assured investors in September that he comes with prior experience running “big businesses, complicated businesses” and working with control and risk teams as he steps into the hot seat.

In a memo to staff on Friday afternoon, Chun said his first priority was to improve the bank’s anti-money laundering program and build the risk and control environment the bank needed by removing barriers and simplifying operations. Chun said he was already engaged with clients.

“This is a fantastic starting point as we plan the next chapter,” he wrote in the note.

‘NOT JUST A HOUSEKEEPER’

Chun’s plan to do a full strategic review of its operations suggests he will be more “aggressive than people are assuming,” said Anthony Visano, head of investment research at Kingwest and Co., an independent investment firm and TD investor since 2010.

“He’s not just a housekeeper,” Visano said. “He is here and he’s on his front foot.”

TD disclosed the U.S. regulatory probe shortly after it terminated its $13.4 billion acquisition of Tennessee-based lender First Horizon in 2023, a deal that would have given it a bigger presence in the U.S. southeast.

TD shares have underperformed peers and the broader Toronto Stock Exchange. In December, the stock got its first new strong buy rating in two years, LSEG data showed, and has gained about 4% since TD expedited the CEO transition to February from April.

“New CEO means business,” BofA Securities analyst Ebrahim Poonawala said when he upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ in January.

Chun, who has spent all of his banking career with TD, in a 2016 interview with the Korean Canadian Scholarship Foundation said he aspired early in his career to lead a large business at the bank.

Chun also described himself as an introvert who had to learn over time “how to give speeches, how to get comfortable in front of large crowds.”

“It is not a natural thing for me,” he said.

He joined TD in 1992 through a management associate program and quickly climbed up the ladder, holding senior roles at TD Insurance, heading global wealth management and insurance for two years and Canadian personal banking for a year before being named the CEO.

“I’m hoping that he will assemble good talent south of the border. He can do no wrong compared to the management group that was in there before. So we’re optimistic,” said Chris King, vice president at Toronto-based Morgan Meighen & Associates.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Deepa Babington)

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Chun becomes CEO after three decades at bank

*

Stock gets upgrades after CEO transition accelerated

*

Chun says improving anti-money laundering program is priority

By Nivedita Balu

TORONTO, Feb 3 (Reuters) – A longtime TD Bank executive took over as the Canadian lender’s CEO on Saturday, tasked with steering it through an anti-money laundering remediation program after it paid a historic fine to U.S. regulators.

Raymond Chun, 55, has spent over 30 years at Canada’s second-largest bank, running TD’s wealth, insurance and Canadian personal banking business. As CEO he will be in charge of cleaning up the bank’s U.S. retail banking business, including the potential sale of certain assets.

Unlike other CEO contenders, Chun maintained a low profile on Bay Street – Toronto’s financial district – while running many of TD’s businesses and was known for his broad knowledge of the bank business, former colleagues and industry executives said.

Perhaps his biggest challenge in his new role will be proving he is capable of navigating regulatory issues in the U.S., given most of his career has been spent in Canada, some analysts said.

Chun takes over from Bharat Masrani as TD works through an anti-money laundering remediation program after U.S. regulators fined the bank $3 billion, imposed growth restrictions and appointed an independent monitor to track activity after they found criminals used the bank’s U.S branches to launder millions in fentanyl proceeds by bribing staff.

TD in December warned of a challenging 2025 and suspended its medium-term earnings forecast.

Some shareholders had floated the idea of an external candidate with knowledge of the U.S. banking business to help clear the bank’s image as it works with regulators, so the pressure is on Chun to prove he can give the bank a fresh start.

Chun assured investors in September that he comes with prior experience running “big businesses, complicated businesses” and working with control and risk teams as he steps into the hot seat.

In a memo to staff on Friday afternoon, Chun said his first priority was to improve the bank’s anti-money laundering program and build the risk and control environment the bank needed by removing barriers and simplifying operations. Chun said he was already engaged with clients.

“This is a fantastic starting point as we plan the next chapter,” he wrote in the note.

‘NOT JUST A HOUSEKEEPER’

Chun’s plan to do a full strategic review of its operations suggests he will be more “aggressive than people are assuming,” said Anthony Visano, head of investment research at Kingwest and Co., an independent investment firm and TD investor since 2010.

“He’s not just a housekeeper,” Visano said. “He is here and he’s on his front foot.”

TD disclosed the U.S. regulatory probe shortly after it terminated its $13.4 billion acquisition of Tennessee-based lender First Horizon in 2023, a deal that would have given it a bigger presence in the U.S. southeast.

TD shares have underperformed peers and the broader Toronto Stock Exchange. In December, the stock got its first new strong buy rating in two years, LSEG data showed, and has gained about 4% since TD expedited the CEO transition to February from April.

“New CEO means business,” BofA Securities analyst Ebrahim Poonawala said when he upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ in January.

Chun, who has spent all of his banking career with TD, in a 2016 interview with the Korean Canadian Scholarship Foundation said he aspired early in his career to lead a large business at the bank.

Chun also described himself as an introvert who had to learn over time “how to give speeches, how to get comfortable in front of large crowds.”

“It is not a natural thing for me,” he said.

He joined TD in 1992 through a management associate program and quickly climbed up the ladder, holding senior roles at TD Insurance, heading global wealth management and insurance for two years and Canadian personal banking for a year before being named the CEO.

“I’m hoping that he will assemble good talent south of the border. He can do no wrong compared to the management group that was in there before. So we’re optimistic,” said Chris King, vice president at Toronto-based Morgan Meighen & Associates.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Deepa Babington)