Deadline is Monday for TD investors to register for $22-million settlement

Class action over sales tactics awards up to $3.90 a share

The deadline is looming for eligible Canadians to register to be part of a $22-million settlement in a securities class action against Toronto-Dominion Bank.

The class action settlement comes several years after TD was alleged to have pressured customers into buying products to hit sales goals. Reports of the alleged sales tactics tanked the bank’s stock, causing losses for shareholders. Canadian shareholders have until Monday to register their stake in the settlement.

The $22-million class action brought by a fund manager alleged the bank had misled shareholders on the TD’s business practices and ethics, after a March 2017 report from the CBC revealed allegations of high-pressure sales tactics that caused the bank’s share price to drop significantly.

The CBC story led to a federal investigation that found Canada’s big banks were inappropriately pressuring customers to buy ill-fitting products, especially Indigenous and visible minority customers.

The day after the CBC report came out, TD’s stock fell dramatically by 4.8 points, with experts worried that the bank could be facing a similar sales pressure scandal that rocked the American bank Wells Fargo a year earlier in 2016.

The plaintiffs in the class action allege TD had “failed and omitted to disclose that the increase in revenue was driven by an unethical, illegal and predatory sales program.”

Anyone who held TD securities between Dec. 3, 2015, and March 9, 2017, can apply for the claim. Claimants have until Monday to apply and are required to upload supporting documents.

As part of the settlement, TD is not admitting any liability.

The amount each claimant can get depends on the total number of applicants, but the amount will be capped at $3.90 per “damaged share,” according to the court-approved settlement plan.

The class action alleged the bank had misled shareholders, after a 2017 CBC report revealed allegations of high-pressure sales tactics that caused the bank’s share price to drop significantly