We absolutely agree on the importance of management teams. The TD money laundering scandle is being heavily pinned on its CEO and National Bank's Analyst noted, "Succession questions have become even more intense because of the bank’s U.S. regulatory issue." and “Providing clarity (if not certainty) of the direct financial consequences ‘clears the deck’ for a potential successor.” So the theory that the Bank's actions are ultimately a reflection of their CEO is correct. We do think that a lot of the uncertainty has been cleared up with the initial provision being disclosed now and this could be a bottoming out. Other banks not facing such challenges of course look better, but if an investor were to move on from TD now our concern is that this could be a sell at the bottom scenario. Now, to be a bit fair to the CEO as well, the bank does have 95,000 employees. While the CEO needs to instill 'culture' it is of course impossible to monitor every employee's actions. Not an excuse, as the buck does stop at the top, but highlights how difficult instilling culture can be.
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