RE:To the TD clientWelcome to the board chief2. Be forewarned, you will soon bump into an extraordinarily colourful and cryptic poster.
As for the motive, here are my thougts.
Normally, this situation is the classic "death by a thousand cuts". This occurs on exchanges such as Bolsa Lisboa and Nasdaq where all trading is done with a market maker. The market maker wil punish a limit order seller by hitting his ask with a fill for a single share. The intent is to frustrate the seller so he relents and hits the market maker's bid. This practise is unethical and ought to be banned.
The TVI trades involve no market maker, so they are a bit more confusing. But I think something similar may be going on. I suspect that the TD Trader has a large position he would like to move, but is determined to do most of his selling by attracting buyers to his asking price. By punishing the buyers with tiny fills, he (why am I so confident it is a he?) hopes they will come round and hit his ask.
Just my best guess at the dynamics.