Business Matters: TD Bank sets aside $450 million for U.S. anti-money laundering probe fine
I’m Anga Viola with your top business headlines right now. Shoppers planning to boycott Loblaw owned grocery stores this month to protest the chains rising profits won’t be impressed with its first quarter report, but shareholders will be. Loblaw earned $459 million in the quarter. That is up nearly 10% from 418 million a year ago. Loblaw raised its quarterly dividend to shareholders by 15%. Now the news comes at the kickoff of an online campaign to boycott Loblaw’s businesses for the month of May, an expression of frustration with Canada’s largest grocer and the rising price of food. People need a whipping boy and typically what you choose is the biggest guy on the block and blah blah is the biggest company on the block. They own many chains. They’re very strong, very influential. And so they’re a good lightning rod for the criticism that the grocery sector is coming under right now. And the last thing you want is your loyal customers to sample the competition. So I think on a on a secondary level it could hurt Loblaw. But I don’t think the people themselves that are engaged in the boycott will have a big effect. TD Bank Group says it’s setting aside 450 million U.S. dollars related to an ongoing US regulatory inquiry into its anti money laundering compliance program. The bank says it’s discussions with three US regulators and the Department of Justice continue with additional monetary penalties anticipated. The bank says it’s working to remedy deficiencies that made its program quote insufficient to effectively monitor, detect, report and respond to suspicious activity. A group of eight US newspapers is suing ChatGPT maker Open AI and Microsoft. The group alleges the technology companies have been purloining millions of copyrighted news articles without permission or payment to train their artificial intelligence chat bots. The lawsuit is the latest against Open AI and Microsoft to land at Manhattan’s Federal Court, where the companies are already battling a series of other copyright lawsuits from other media outlets and best selling authors such as John Grisham, Jodie Pickled and George RR Martin. Canadian cannabis stocks soared Tuesday after The Associated Press reported the US Drug Enforcement Agency will be moving to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, the AP reports. The DEA’s proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis, but would not legalize it for recreational use. The reclassification of the drug in the US could lessen risks for cannabis companies that operate South of the border and potentially improve investor appetite for cannabis stocks. Those are the top business stories right now. For more, you can head to globalnews.ca. I’m Anga Viola.