Tuesday's Headlines: Canada's TD Bank hungry for US market share

Toronto-Dominion Bank, or as it's known better here, simply TD Bank, continues to expand rapidly in the U.S. and will likely make more acquisitions, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Canada's second largest bank made headlines in the U.S. after its 2008 acquisition of Commerce Bank, and has since also bought Maine-based Banknorth and Chrysler Financial Corp.

Earlier this week TD said it would acquire Bank of America's MBNA Canada, one of the country's biggest issuers of credit cards.

TD already has more branches in the U.S. than in Canada. There are 1,285 retail branches in the states while in Canada it has only 1,131 branches.

Moreover, The Wall Street Journal says TD's parent company TD Ameritrade Holding is now also likely to bid for E*Trade Financial.

"Given the U.S. economy's struggles, TD's expansion is risky," the Journal writes. "Still, the U.S. is a tempting growth market for Canadian banks, since their home country has a saturated retail-banking market with no opportunities to consolidate because of government restrictions on big bank mergers."

Other News:

Australia's Westpac reports lower earnings, warns of job cuts. [Wall Street Journal]

Bank of America considers tiered branches to differentiate customers by wealth. [Biz Journals]

Job cuts at global banks reach 60,000, but that's just the beginning of 'brutal reshaping.' [Financial Times]

Portugal's Comercial Portugues gets ready to sell stake in Polish Bank Millenium. [Bloomberg News]

France's Credit Agricole to close Bahrain office, shifting staff to Dubai. [Reuters]

Union Bancaire Privée to buy ABN AMRO Bank Switzerland, private bank with $11 billion in assets. [The Asset]

Paulson hedge fund sells BofA, Citi but adds Capital One and Wells Fargo. [Forbes]

Allstate files lawsuit against Goldman Sachs on allegedly hiding risks that led to losses. [Reuters]

Morgan Keegan brokerage likely to be sold for over $1 billion before September. [Biz Journals]

JP Morgan and other lenders may resume uncontested foreclosures in New Jersey, judge rules. [Bloomberg]

Ex-Front Point manager Chip Skowron pleads guilty to insider trading charges. [Dow Jones Newswires]

Staffing firms grow through M&A, likely to continue despite economic gloom. [Reuters]

UK banks unhappy with FSA's new compensation rules, consulting firm says. [Financial Times]