Donates Portion to Charity
TORONTO, Dec. 4 /CNW/ - TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG) announced today that Colleen Johnston, Group Head Finance and Chief Financial Officer advised of her intention to exercise up to approximately 39,000 options for TD common shares, which represents 17% percent of her outstanding options. Ms. Johnston intends to retain approximately 15,000 shares, donate approximately 1,500 shares to The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and sell the remaining acquired shares. The options were previously granted to Ms. Johnston on December 9, 2004. These options will expire on December 9, 2011.
Ms. Johnston made the decision to exercise these options at this time due to the bank's conservative trading restrictions policies that could prevent her from trading TD common shares, including exercising options, for potentially long periods of time. Under these policies, trading is not permitted for at least six weeks prior to each quarterly release. From time to time, particular circumstances arise that further restrict trading and the combined effect can be a blackout for certain individuals for the better part of a year.
Following the intended exercise of options and sale of acquired shares, Ms. Johnston would continue to meet her share ownership requirement of six times her base salary. As disclosed in the 2008 proxy circular, Ms. Johnston currently satisfies the share ownership requirement based on her equity holdings including performance share units, deferred share units and personal holdings.
Under TD's policies, TD is required to announce by way of press release Ms. Johnston's intention to conduct any transaction in TD stock, including the exercise of stock options, at least five business days in advance of the date of the transaction.
Ms. Johnston has other outstanding options that are approaching expiry in the coming years, and her intention to exercise these options before they expire will also be pre-disclosed in accordance with these policies.
About TD Bank Financial Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Financial Group. TD Bank Financial Group is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves more than 18 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in key financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Insurance; Wealth Management, including TD Waterhouse and an investment in TD Ameritrade; U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD Bank Financial Group also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with more than 6 million online customers. TD Bank Financial Group had CDN$557 billion in assets on October 31, 2009. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.