Warren-led group wants OCC to block TD-First Horizon

A group of legislators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wants the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to reject TD Bank Group’s planned purchase of First Horizon in Memphis, Tenn. 

The lawmakers, which include Reps. Katie Porter, D-Calif., Al Green, D-Texas, and Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., are citing a May 4 report that claimed the Canadian bank had similar incentives to those tied to the fake-accounts scandal at Wells Fargo. 

“As TD Bank seeks approval from your agency to increase their market share and become the sixth-largest bank in the U.S., the OCC should closely examine any ongoing wrongdoing and block any merger until TD Bank is held responsible for its abusive practices,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Comptroller Michael Hsu.

The letter points to a 2017 investigation into the bank’s practices, while pressing the OCC to publicly release its findings from that probe. 

TD Bank, which agreed in February to buy First Horizon for $13.4 billion, said in a statement to the media that the report’s findings were “unfounded,” adding that it “strongly” disagrees with the report’s “characterization of information presented as facts.”

The bank’s compensation practices “are carefully and actively managed,” the statement added. “We vehemently object to any allegations of systemic sales practice issues, or any other claims alleged in the article.”