That’s a big fine

TD Bank will pay almost $3.1 billion in fines and other penalties and face a cap on its US retail banking assets after pleading guilty to failing to prevent money laundering by drug cartels, among others. The settlement concludes a months-long saga and multiple probes into the lender’s failure to catch financial crimes at bank branches in multiple US states, including New York, New Jersey and Florida. The bank’s failures “enabled three money laundering networks to collectively transfer more than $670 million through TD Bank accounts between 2019 and 2023,” the Justice Department said on Thursday. The investigations have already hit Toronto-Dominion hard, leaving a black mark on Chief Executive Officer Bharat Masrani’s decade-long tenure. It also forced the lender to scrap a $13.4 billion deal to acquire US regional bank First Horizon last year. Analysts and investors fear the asset cap may hamper the bank’s growth-by-acquisition strategy. —Margaret Sutherlin

US inflation is now at its lowest point since it began its fateful rise during the pandemic, with new numbers potentially providing a boost to the Biden administration, and by extension Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House. (The so-called core consumer price index, however, which excludes food and energy costs, increased more than forecast.) Here’s your markets wrap.

Hurricane Milton made landfall Thursday night in Florida, bringing devastating winds, storm surge and dangerous tornadoes. Almost 3 million people in the state are without power and the death toll stands at 10. Florida is already reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, another major storm, which hit a week ago. The back-to-back storms have wreaked havoc on the state’s Gulf Coast. President Joe Biden urged Congress to return to Washington quickly so it can free up more disaster relief funds.

In Biden’s first call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since August, the president warned him against attacking Iran’s nuclear sites–which Tehran would view as especially provocative and threaten a broader escalation of the conflict. US officials also worry attacks on Iran’s oil infrastructure would push up energy prices and hurt the global economy. The US has proposed another round of economic sanctions, giving Netanyahu an off-ramp that allows him to resist calls for severe retribution from hard-line nationalists in his coalition, as well as some opposition leaders. But there’s no guarantee he’ll take it, especially given the Biden administration has been reluctant to cut the American weapons supplies fueling Israel’s war effort. Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet and authorize a strike against the Islamic Republic for its missile attack last week Thursday, the latest tit-for-tat in an escalating regional war.

China regulators asked financial institutions to beef up monitoring of the nation’s wealth management products after investors pulled some $149 billion to chase a rally in stocks. Regulators recently ordered lenders, fund houses and fund distributors to monitor changes in the scale of products on a daily basis. Banks were also asked to report on their ability to meet short-term redemptions, after a rapid rebound in the stock market triggered a flood of investor withdrawals from fixed-income products. The Chinese stock market euphoria—spurred by Beijing’s economic stimulus measures—has prompted retail investors to pull money, fueling a decline in corporate bond prices and accelerating withdrawals.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his military is confronting a shortage of military equipment as he reinforced plans to hold a second summit to push for an end to Russia’s war next month. Meanwhile, the cost of insuring vessels that transit Ukraine’s shipping corridor in the Black Sea jumped this week after Russia ramped up attacks on key ports. Coverage has now surged to above 1% of the value of a ship. For a $50 million ship, that would be an increase of $125,000 per voyage.

Pandering for votes is standard practice in election campaigns. But the tax-policy proposals on offer during this presidential contest are setting new standards for shamelessness, Michael R. Bloomberg writes in Bloomberg Opinion. The purest example of this bipartisan trait is a plan to exempt tips from income tax. Donald Trump raised the idea in June, then Kamala Harris joined him when she entered the race, Bloomberg writes. Both made their pitch in Nevada, a battleground state, where about 5% of workers get some income from tips (the national average is 2%). President Joe Biden won there by 34,000 votes in 2020, so winning over some of its 350,000 hospitality workers could make the difference. Setting the electoral arithmetic aside, the idea makes no sense. Tipped workers are usually low-paid. Many would get little or no benefit because their earnings fall below IRS thresholds for tax liability.

Trump also says he would end US income taxes on Americans living in other countries (though of course he can’t do that on his own since Congress would have to pass a law). The pledge, such as it is, would reduce paperwork and, potentially, the tax bills for the roughly 9 million Americans who live overseas–many of whom are wealthy.

New York City’s pay formula created a perverse incentive for Uber and Lyft to prevent drivers from logging on, even during periods of high demand. The practice has been more pervasive, widespread and financially damaging for drivers than previously understood. Watch the Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary for the full story.

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