On March 19, 2021, Bharat Masrani, TD's Group President and Chief Executive Officer, shared the following important message with TD colleagues about the Bank's response to recent events and the ways TD is committed to helping address the impacts of anti-Asian racism and discrimination in all its forms.
Over the past year, we have witnessed a significant increase in racism and discrimination against Asian communities and businesses. More recently, terrible race and gender-based attacks in Atlanta led to the deaths of eight innocent people, six of them women of Asian descent. We deplore these acts of violence and hate.
Tens of thousands of TD colleagues and customers, and millions of our neighbours and friends in communities across our footprint are directly impacted by these awful events. We are both saddened and angered by the suffering this has caused.
I have spoken to many of our Asian colleagues who are feeling tremendous pain at this time. I urge you to join me in raising your voices to denounce these and other acts of racism and discrimination, to reach out to each other, and to offer the support and care to customers and colleagues alike that is a hallmark of our inclusive culture.
TD will continue to fight racism, challenge discrimination and contribute directly to a more peaceful, inclusive society. Across the Bank, in online communities and forums, in our stores and branches, we will continue to have the important and necessary conversations about race and diversity. Within society, we will invest in organizations that support Asian and other communities who have been so deeply impacted by racism and bias for far too long. TD will always be a force for change, for inclusion and for progress.
This has been a long and painful year. We have experienced tremendous disruption and hardship as a society. I know that it has not been easy, and that the rise in racist events and violence have had terrible consequences for so many.
I have always said that banking serves a higher purpose. We are a company, but also a family that cares for the well-being of our colleagues and the customers we serve. TD is committed to improving the society in which we live.
Today, we are again reminded that we must continue to be a catalyst for positive change and that our work and our contribution is so much more than banking – it is to help build a better tomorrow.