TORONTO, Dec. 3, 2015 /CNW/ - TD Bank Group (TD) (TSX: TD) announced today that, subject to the approval of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), it intends to launch a normal course issuer bid through the facilities of the TSX as well as through other designated exchanges and published markets in Canada to repurchase for cancellation up to 9.5 million of its common shares, representing approximately 0.5% of the common shares currently issued and outstanding. On October 31, 2015, there were 1,856,191,620 common shares issued and outstanding.  TD will file a notice of intention with the TSX in this regard.

TD may commence purchases under the bid, continuing for up to one year, after the TSX has accepted the notice of intention, which TD anticipates may be as early as December 2015.

As at October 31, 2015, the Bank's Common Equity Tier 1, Tier 1 and Total Capital ratios were 9.9%, 11.3% and 14.0%, respectively. TD made the decision to launch the bid in light of its demonstrated ability to generate capital and has now allocated roughly $500 million in capital for share repurchases under the bid.

About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves more than 24 million customers in three key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Retail, including TD Canada Trust, TD Auto Finance Canada, TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank ^®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth (U.S.), and an investment in TD Ameritrade; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with approximately 10.2 million active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$1.1 trillion in assets on October 31, 2015. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
From time to time, the Bank (as defined in this document) makes written and/or oral forward-looking statements, including in this document, in other filings with Canadian regulators or the United States (U.S.) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and in other communications. In addition, representatives of the Bank may make forward-looking statements orally to analysts, investors, the media and others. All such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements made in this document, including in the Management's Discussion and Analysis ("2015 MD&A") under the heading "Economic Summary and Outlook", for each business segment under headings "Business Outlook and Focus for 2016", and in other statements regarding the Bank's objectives and priorities for 2016 and beyond and strategies to achieve them, the regulatory environment in which the Bank operates, and the Bank's anticipated financial performance. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "will", "should", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "may", and "could".

By their very nature, these forward-looking statements require the Bank to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, general and specific. Especially in light of the uncertainty related to the physical, financial, economic, political, and regulatory environments, such risks and uncertainties - many of which are beyond the Bank's control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict - may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could cause, individually or in the aggregate, such differences include: credit, market (including equity, commodity, foreign exchange, and interest rate), liquidity, operational (including technology and infrastructure), reputational, insurance, strategic, regulatory, legal, environmental, capital adequacy, and other risks. Examples of such risk factors include the general business and economic conditions in the regions in which the Bank operates; the ability of the Bank to execute on key priorities, including to successfully complete acquisitions, business retention, and strategic plans and to attract, develop and retain key executives; disruptions in or attacks (including cyber-attacks) on the Bank's information technology, internet, network access or other voice or data communications systems or services; the evolution of various types of fraud or other criminal behaviour to which the Bank is exposed; the failure of third parties to comply with their obligations to the Bank or its affiliates, including relating to the care and control of information; the impact of new and changes to, or application of, current laws and regulations, including without limitation tax laws, risk-based capital guidelines and liquidity regulatory guidance; the overall difficult litigation environment, including in the U.S.; increased competition, including through internet and mobile banking and non-traditional competitors; changes to the Bank's credit ratings; changes in currency and interest rates; increased funding costs and market volatility due to market illiquidity and competition for funding; critical accounting estimates and changes to accounting standards, policies, and methods used by the Bank; existing and potential international debt crises; and the occurrence of natural and unnatural catastrophic events and claims resulting from such events. The Bank cautions that the preceding list is not exhaustive of all possible risk factors and other factors could also adversely affect the Bank's results. For more detailed information, please refer to the "Risk Factors and Management" section of the 2015 MD&A, as may be updated in subsequently filed quarterly reports to shareholders and news releases (as applicable) related to any transactions or events discussed under the heading "Significant Events" in the relevant MD&A, which applicable releases may be found on www.td.com. All such factors should be considered carefully, as well as other uncertainties and potential events, and the inherent uncertainty of forward-looking statements, when making decisions with respect to the Bank and the Bank cautions readers not to place undue reliance on the Bank's forward-looking statements.

Material economic assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained in this document are set out in the 2015 MD&A under the headings "Economic Summary and Outlook", and for each business segment, "Business Outlook and Focus for 2016", each as updated in subsequently filed quarterly reports to shareholders.

Any forward-looking statements contained in this document represent the views of management only as of the date hereof and are presented for the purpose of assisting the Bank's shareholders and analysts in understanding the Bank's financial position, objectives and priorities and anticipated financial performance as at and for the periods ended on the dates presented, and may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Bank does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on its behalf, except as required under applicable securities legislation.

SOURCE TD Bank Group