The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, March 7, edition that Canaccord Genuity Group has agreed to pay more than $100-million (Canadian) in fines for willfully breaking American banking laws. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that the settlement agreement announced Friday between Canaccord and three U.S. financial regulators is the result of nearly three years of investigations and represents the largest penalty ever imposed against a broker dealer for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Canaccord failed to report "numerous securities fraud schemes that caused significant economic harm to innocent investors." Canaccord's anti-money-laundering surveillance program "not only relied on inadequately designed exception reports to flag suspicious activity, but Canaccord personnel failed to review or investigate activity that was flagged and then falsified documentation to cover up those failures." The total $80-million (U.S.) penalty will be partially deferred if the company complies with the terms of the settlement agreement. That will result in a total financial impact to Canaccord of $75-million (U.S.), the company said, or roughly $102.6-million (Canadian).