American Express chief executive Stephen Squeri said the company took its responsibility to combat financial crime seriously and was committed to addressing regulators’ concerns. He said the company had set aside funds in earlier periods to cover part of the penalty.
The action follows examinations by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which found inadequate anti-money-laundering controls at American Express National Bank.
The bank’s risk framework concentrated too heavily on deposit-account products, regulators found, while its larger credit and charge-card operations received inadequate scrutiny. Over the past ten years, roughly $13 billion in suspected trade-based money-laundering activity went undetected and unreported through the company’s systems.
Regulators identified understaffing, poorly trained employees and directors, gaps in internal controls and inadequate independent testing. They also found deficiencies in customer-identity verification and due-diligence practices that contributed to the compliance failures.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a $350 million civil money penalty against American Express National Bank for failing to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering compliance programme. The money will go to the US Treasury.
The Federal Reserve Board issued a concurrent cease-and-desist order against American Express and its travel-related services subsidiary. American Express did not admit or deny the regulators’ findings.
Jonathan Gould, the Comptroller of the Currency, said the OCC expects banks of American Express’s size and complexity to devote enough resources to comply with laws and regulations intended to detect and prevent money laundering.
Squeri said the consent orders would have no bearing on American Express’s full-year 2026 financial outlook.
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