The regulator’s findings
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said the bank’s monitoring broke down over the past decade, leaving approximately $13 billion in suspected trade-based money-laundering activity insufficiently identified, evaluated and reported. The agency’s finding concerns suspected activity; that figure is not a finding that $13 billion was proven to have been laundered. [1]
The OCC said the bank concentrated its risk assessment on its relatively narrow deposit business and paid insufficient attention to its larger credit and charge-card operations. It also identified weaknesses in staffing, internal controls, independent testing and training. [1]
Orders, corrective work and the company’s response
The penalty order requires payment of $350 million upon execution. A separate requires the bank to submit a corrective action plan within 90 days for supervisory review, covering the identified compliance deficiencies. [2][3]
The Federal Reserve announced a concurrent action against American Express Company, identifying shortcomings in its enterprise-wide anti-money-laundering program, especially at the national-bank subsidiary. [4]
Reuters reported that American Express did not admit or deny the regulators’ findings. The company said it was committed to addressing the concerns; CEO Stephen Squeri said the penalty and compliance costs were not expected to affect its 2026 or 2027 guidance. That is the company’s forecast. [5]
Sources
- OCC — October 8 enforcement announcement ↗Official release
- OCC — Civil money penalty order, AA-ENF-2026-47 ↗Official release · PDF
- OCC — Consent order, AA-ENF-2026-46 ↗Official release · PDF
- Federal Reserve — October 8 enforcement announcement ↗Official release
- Reuters — Regulators’ action and company response, October 8 ↗Source