The Toronto-Dominion Bank
Diversified BankingFounded 1955- Updated July 2025
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: July 2025
CorpDigest
The Toronto-Dominion Bank
Company History
Founded 1955 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Last reviewed: 2025-07-15 · By Swet Parvadiya
The Bank of Toronto was founded in 1855 by a group of grain millers and merchants who needed a financial institution that understood agricultural commodity financing in a way that the Bank of Montreal — distant and oriented toward trade finance rather than grain credit — did not provide. The Dominion Bank received its charter in 1869 and opened in 1871 as a more broadly focused commercial bank. The 1955 merger that created the Toronto-Dominion Bank combined two institutions that had operated independently for a century, creating the second-largest bank in Canada with a combined history stretching to the pre-Confederation era.
The postwar Canadian banking environment rewarded conservatism and domestic market depth — the chartered bank oligopoly that Canada's banking regulation created meant that aggressive competition for deposits or loans was unnecessary and that growth came from the expanding Canadian economy rather than from market share competition among the major banks. TD built its branch network across Ontario and then nationally through this period, acquiring regional institutions and expanding its retail presence without taking the credit risks that periodically damaged more aggressive competitors.
The 1992 acquisition of Central Guaranty Trust, one of the largest trust company failures in Canadian history, added assets and distribution at distressed prices — a pattern TD would return to with the Commerce Bancorp acquisition in 2007 that built the American retail banking presence that eventually became the source of the AML problems. Commerce Bank's "America's most convenient bank" brand — featuring 7-days-a-week branches and extended evening hours — was the product that TD bought and the reputation it built its American franchise on.
The Canada Trust acquisition in 2000 was TD's most significant domestic transaction, adding the largest trust company in Canada and the green TD brand identity that remains the most recognized consumer banking brand in Canada. The Cowen Inc. Acquisition in 2023 added U.S. Capital markets capabilities, representing the final significant acquisition before the AML crisis forced a full strategic pause on American expansion.
The Bank of Toronto was established in 1855 by a group of Toronto millers and merchants to serve Canada's growing grain industry. The bank provided insurance and commodities exchange services and built a branch network across Ontario and into Quebec. By 1954, the bank had 161 branches and was one of Canada's leading financial institutions. The bank's conservative approach to lending and strong relationships with agricultural and commercial clients established a foundation of stability that would characterize the merged Toronto-Dominion Bank.
The Dominion Bank was chartered by the Canadian Parliament in 1869 to help finance nation-building projects in the young Dominion of Canada. Backed by industrialists and financiers, the bank opened its first branch in 1871 and expanded rapidly across central Canada. The bank established international operations in London (1911) and New York (1919), making it one of Canada's first banks with a global footprint. By 1954, Dominion Bank had grown to become a major competitor to the Bank of Toronto, setting the stage for the 1955 merger.
The Bank of Toronto was founded by a consortium of millers and merchants in Toronto, with initial capital of CAD $200,000, to serve Canada's emerging grain industry.
The Dominion Bank was chartered by Canadian Parliament with backing from industrialists and financiers, opening its first branch in 1871 with initial capital of CAD $500,000.
On February 1, 1955, the Bank of Toronto and The Dominion Bank merged to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank with 499 branches, 5,500 employees, and combined assets of CAD $1.1 billion.
The TD Shield was introduced as the official corporate identity, replacing the separate branding of the predecessor banks and establishing the visual identity that remains today.
TD acquired Central Guaranty Trust, expanding its retail banking and trust services footprint in Canada.
TD purchased Waterhouse Investor Services for approximately $1.1 billion, establishing a major presence in discount brokerage and online investing.
TD acquired Canada Trust for CAD $8 billion, creating the TD Canada Trust retail banking brand and adding approximately 4 million customers and 500 branches.
TD acquired Commerce Bancorp for $8.5 billion, establishing a major US retail banking presence in the Northeast with the 'America's Most Convenient Bank' branding.
TD acquired South Financial Group, expanding its US presence in the Carolinas and Florida.
TD acquired Chrysler Financial, establishing TD Auto Finance as a major US auto lending platform.
TD contributed its US brokerage business to Charles Schwab in exchange for a 13.4% stake in the combined entity, valued at approximately $13 billion.
TD announced the $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon Corporation, which would have created a top-6 US bank with 1,560 branches across 22 states.
On May 4, 2023, TD terminated the First Horizon merger due to regulatory refusal, paying $225 million in fees. On March 1, 2023, TD completed the $1.3 billion acquisition of Cowen Inc.
In October 2024, TD pleaded guilty to criminal BSA violations and conspiracy to commit money laundering, agreeing to pay over $3 billion in fines and accepting a $434 billion asset cap on US operations.
On February 12, 2025, TD completed the sale of its entire 10.1% Schwab stake for approximately $14.6 billion. Raymond Chun became CEO on February 1, 2025, replacing Bharat Masrani.
To create a nationwide Canadian retail banking franchise by acquiring Canada Trust, a trust company known for extended hours and customer-friendly service. The deal added approximately 4 million customers and 500 branches.
To establish a major US retail banking presence by acquiring Commerce Bancorp, which operated under the 'America's Most Convenient Bank' brand with extended hours and a customer-centric model.
To accelerate TD Securities' US growth strategy by acquiring Cowen, a leading independent dealer with a premier US equities business and diversified investment bank. Added 1,700 employees and established TD Cowen.
To create a top-6 US bank with 1,560 branches across 22 states, adding approximately $80 billion in assets and expanding into the fast-growing US Southeast.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank traces its corporate history to two separate Canadian institutions chartered in the 19th century. The Bank of Toronto received its federal charter on March 18, 1855, founded by a group of grain millers and merchants who wanted a dedicated bank to finance the rapidly growing grain trade flowing through the port of Toronto. The Dominion Bank was chartered on February 1, 1869, two years after Canadian Confederation, with a broader commercial mandate that included manufacturing finance, real estate lending, and underwriting the expanding railway economy. Both institutions built independent branch networks across Ontario and steadily expanded into Quebec and the western provinces through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Bank of Toronto cultivated a reputation as a conservative, deposit-rich franchise, while the Dominion Bank focused on commercial and corporate lending. They competed directly in Toronto for nearly a century until their boards negotiated a merger that took effect on February 1, 1955, creating The Toronto-Dominion Bank with approximately C$1.1 billion in assets and 499 combined branches. The modern TD Bank Group, with operations across Canada, the eastern United States, and globally, traces its continuity to that 1855 Bank of Toronto charter, making it one of the oldest continuously operating banks in North America.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank was created on February 1, 1955, when shareholders of the Bank of Toronto and the Dominion Bank approved a merger that combined two of Canada's oldest chartered banks. By the early 1950s, both institutions had concluded that scale was essential to compete with the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, and the Canadian Bank of Commerce, each of which was substantially larger. Negotiations between Bank of Toronto president Stuart Mitchell and Dominion Bank president Robert Rae produced an agreed share-exchange ratio, and the federal government approved the combination under the Bank Act. On the merger date the new entity held approximately C$1.1 billion in assets, operated 499 branches, and employed roughly 5,400 people. The bank chose Toronto as its headquarters and adopted the green color scheme that remains its visual identity. Over the following decade TD rationalized overlapping branches, modernized operations, and invested in early computer-based banking, becoming one of the first Canadian banks to fully automate its account ledgers by the late 1960s. The 1955 transaction is widely regarded as one of the most successful bank consolidations in Canadian history and established TD as a permanent member of what would later be called the Big Five.
TD Bank's expansion into the United States was driven by two large transactions in the mid-2000s. In 2005, TD acquired a 51 percent controlling stake in Banknorth Group, a Maine-based New England regional bank, in a deal valued at roughly $3.8 billion, gaining its first major U.S. retail platform. TD increased ownership to 100 percent by 2007. The defining move came in 2008, when TD acquired Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Commerce Bancorp for approximately $8.5 billion in cash and stock. Commerce had built a distinctive seven-day-a-week, extended-hours branch network across the Mid-Atlantic and was rebranding itself as 'America's Most Convenient Bank.' TD merged Banknorth and Commerce to create TD Bank, N.A., adopting the convenient bank positioning and the green branch design. The combined U.S. franchise stretched from Maine to Florida and became one of the ten largest commercial banks in the United States by deposits. Additional fill-in acquisitions followed, including the South Financial Group in 2010 and various smaller portfolios. By the mid-2010s TD's U.S. retail bank served roughly 8 million customers across 15 states and the District of Columbia, with the company branding itself as the only major Canadian bank with a true east-coast U.S. consumer franchise.
In October 2024, TD Bank pleaded guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to pay approximately $3.09 billion in combined penalties to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve. It was the largest U.S. bank anti-money-laundering settlement in history and the first time a major U.S. bank pleaded guilty to a Bank Secrecy Act conspiracy charge. Federal investigators concluded that between 2014 and 2023 TD's U.S. subsidiary had systemic failures in its transaction monitoring program that allowed three identified networks to launder more than $670 million, including narcotics proceeds tied to Chinese underground banking and Colombian drug trafficking. The OCC imposed an unprecedented asset cap of approximately $434 billion on TD's U.S. retail banking operations, limiting balance-sheet growth until remediation milestones are met. CEO Bharat Masrani publicly accepted accountability and accelerated his retirement to May 2025. TD set aside multiple quarters of provisions ahead of the settlement, took roughly C$3 billion of charges, and committed to a multi-year remediation program with new compliance leadership, additional anti-money-laundering personnel, and enhanced monitoring technology. The case sharply curtailed TD's near-term U.S. growth ambitions.
The two decades after 2000 transformed TD from a domestic Canadian bank into a North American franchise. In February 2000, TD acquired Canada Trust for approximately C$8 billion, the largest bank merger in Canadian history at the time, creating TD Canada Trust and adopting Canada Trust's customer-service culture and extended branch hours. In 2005 TD took a controlling stake in Banknorth, then in 2008 acquired Commerce Bancorp for $8.5 billion to create TD Bank, N.A. in the United States. TD Ameritrade, in which TD held a roughly 40 percent stake after a 2006 transaction, expanded retail brokerage reach until Charles Schwab acquired Ameritrade in October 2020, leaving TD with approximately a 13 percent stake in Schwab that was later reduced. TD Securities grew through fixed-income, equity, and advisory expansion. In 2017 the bank faced internal scrutiny over high-pressure retail sales practices following Canadian media reports. By 2020 TD had become Canada's second-largest bank by assets, with roughly C$1.7 trillion in total assets, more than 26 million customers globally, and a balanced earnings mix between Canadian retail banking, U.S. retail banking, wealth management, and wholesale banking through TD Securities. These two decades positioned TD for both its strengths and the regulatory issues that followed.