TORONTO, April 18 (Reuters) - Canada's TD Bank

was working on its anti-money laundering (AML) compliance

program, CEO Bharat Masrani said on Thursday, acknowledging that

it was not up to the mark and that the U.S. Justice Department's

was still probing.

"We are in discussions with our regulators. Regretfully, our

AML program was not where it needed to be, and we are addressing

it," Masrani told shareholders at TD's annual meeting.

"We are working diligently to strengthen our program. We

have onboarded globally recognized talent and leadership, and

invested in technology, process redesign, training and other

activities," he said.

Masrani said he could not disclose any additional details

given the confidential nature of regulatory discussions.

TD Bank last year had said it expects fines and

"non-monetary" penalties related to investigations by U.S.

authorities, including in connection with an investigation by

the U.S. Department of Justice.

Analysts have forecast the fine could be anywhere between

$500 million to $1 billion, a sum it could comfortably afford at

its strong capital position but risks reputation damage.

The bank, which has more retail branches in the U.S. than at

home, has launched new training platforms to educate its staff

about AML compliance, Masrani said.

The bank, Canada's second largest, has rapidly expanded in

the past few years as it seeks growth opportunities in the

United States, where it has about 10 million customers.

Its ambitious $13.4 billion acquisition of U.S. regional

lender First Horizon was also called off before the AML probe

was disclosed, citing delay in regulatory approvals.

Masrani, addressing a shareholder's question on the stock's

laggard performance, acknowledged a lack of clarity related to

its issue in the US and said there was pressure, but asked

shareholders to "be patient" until the bank can share more

details.

The stock has fallen roughly about 30% since its peak in

early 2022 and was one of the worst performers among the big six

Canadian banks last year.

It trades roughly about 10 times its earnings, compared with

bigger rival Royal Bank of Canada's ( RY ) 12 times, according

to LSEG data.