TD needs a new plan

As ConocoPhillips invested in Canada, Toronto Dominion, one of Canada’s biggest banks, struggled to outline a new expansion strategy after its planned acquisition of Tennessee-based First Horizon fell through amid reports of regulatory difficulties. Instead of expanding all at once by buying First Horizon, TD plans to open more branches in the United States, 150 by 2027.

The failed acquisition looks like a setback for TD, since they will expand in the US more slowly than planned. But overall the Canadian banking sector, which is dominated by five big players, looks stable when compared with the creeping crisis in the United States, where three banks — First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature (representing about $559 billion in assets) — have failed this year.

The fallout from US bank failures has had an impact on Canadian banks, pushing them to be more cautious about lending amid fears of a recession. Canada has not had a bank failure since 1996 and was spared the worst of the financial crisis of 2008 because there are a smaller number of more heavily regulated banks than in the United States.