A number of sales practice abuses have been under scrutiny at some major financial institutions across the United States, as well as Canada, including at TD Bank.

Some banks may be opening bank accounts or instigating other services for their customers without their knowledge or permission, which may result in customers being charged fees or enrolled in services that they did not opt into. TD Bank is currently under investigation for potentially engaging in sales practice abuses such as unauthorized bank account opening.

If you have noticed an unauthorized bank account in your name at TD Bank or another bank listed below, you may be able to join a class action lawsuit investigation.

Sales Practice Abuses in Canadian Banks

Canada’s Financial Consumer Agency examined thousands of complaints and found that its six biggest banks had engaged in sales practice abuses that could harm consumers.

According to BNN Bloomberg, the FCAC says these banks had “insufficient” measures in place to prevent sales practice abuses that would push either misrepresented or unsuitable products to consumers.

Now, the watchdog intends to expand its probe of banking sales practice abuses to medium and small financial institutions.

Some of the sales practice abuses being scrutinized included selling services without the consent of customers. Ultimately, the review found that the controls placed on these major banks were insufficient to truly prevent or mitigate the risk of such sales practice abuses.

FCAC Commissioner Lucie Tedesco said the alleged sales practice abuses that had been reported were incidents where “consumers have not provided their express consent to purchasing new products and services,” according to BNN Bloomberg.

Wells Fargo Sales Practice Abuses & Settlement

In 2016 and 2017, Wells Fargo was embroiled in this issue, where bank employees would open an unauthorized bank account on behalf of customers without permission. Wells Fargo has settled allegations of unauthorized bank account openings for $142 million, as well as additional fines.

On top of the financial penalties, the bank has also agreed to amend its unrealistically high sales goals so that employees are not pushed to engage in this kind of deceptive behavior.

But Wells Fargo may not be the only bank where employees engage in these kinds of sales practice abuses. A number of banks are currently under investigation for unauthorized bank account opening, including TD Bank.

Other banks included in the investigation are:

• Bank of America
• Capital One
• HSBC
• Royal Bank of Canada
• BOK Financial

Sales Practice Abuses Investigation

If you are a customer TD Bank or another of the banks above, and an unauthorized bank account has been opened in your name or you have been affected by other sales practice abuses, such as fees or services you did not authorize, you may be able to participate in an unauthorized bank account class action lawsuit investigation.