Watchdog concerned about TD allegations
Ombudsman is urging customers to report issues, file complaints about banks
The head of Canada’s main financial services ombudsman says allegations about aggressive sales tactics by TD Bank employees raise “serious concerns” and the watchdog will be keeping an eye out to see if similar issues persist in the broader industry.
“We’ll certainly be monitoring our complaint volumes and monitoring the situation,” Sarah Bradley, the head of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, said in an interview Monday.
Bradley’s comments came in the wake of several CBC reports that current and former employees at TD alleged they broke the law to meet sales targets in order to stay employed. In some instances, unnamed employees claim to have made unauthorized transactions on clients’ behalf. TD has denied the allegations.
Bradley is urging consumers who have encountered such issues to file a complaint with their financial institution. OBSI is an impartial arbitrator that serves as an alternative to expensive legal battles by resolving disputes between banks or investment firms and their clients.
In a statement late Sunday, TD Bank CEO Bharat Masrani said he doesn’t believe the reports are an accurate portrayal of the bank’s workplace, but he takes the concerns the story raises seriously.
“TD is in the trust business,” Masrani said in the statement. “We know we must earn our customers’ trust before we earn their business.”