“Essentially, the claim alleges that as SIB’s correspondent bank from the 1990s to 2009, TD failed to act in accordance with the standard of care applicable to a reasonable banker,” the motion decision says. “The plaintiffs allege that TD failed to conduct proper due diligence before it started providing banking services to an Antiguan off-shore bank, and compounded its negligence by continuing to provide banking services to SIB for 20 years. They allege that TD ignored public information and red flags that should have led it to terminate SIB’s access to TD’s facilities, report the conduct of Stanford and others to the appropriate authorities, and/or freeze SIB’s accounts,” the decision says. TD brought a motion seeking a summary judgment to dismiss the claim on the basis that it came after the two-year limitation period had expired. TD argued that the bank’s previous liquidators ought to have known that SIB had a claim against TD before Aug. 22, 2009, based on the widespread publicity surrounding the case, among other things. However, the court dismissed the motion, ruling that it could not determine, without a trial, when a possible claim against TD could have been discovered. “The issue of when the former officeholders ought to have known that SIB had a potential claim against TD cannot be fairly adjudicated on this motion and is a genuine issue for trial,” the decision says.
Toronto-Dominion Bank has failed to have a multi-million dollar claim by the liquidators of Stanford International Bank (SIB) dismissed. The bank is accused of negligence and failing to conduct proper due diligence when it was SIB's main correspondent bank; the court says that it could not determine, without a trial, if these allegations can be proved.