Regulators fined American Express $350 million on Thursday over widespread failures in its anti-money laundering controls that left approximately $13 billion in suspected money laundering activity inadequately monitored and reported over nearly 11 years. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said American Express National Bank failed to maintain adequate safeguards to detect and report suspicious transactions, including potentially illicit activity involving credit and charge cards, and that between June 2014 and May 2025 the bank processed approximately billions in suspected trade-based money laundering activity, some involving accounts associated with bank insiders. The agency cited systemic weaknesses in monitoring systems, customer identification procedures and internal controls, inadequate staffing, insufficient expertise, weak employee training and deficiencies in internal audits, and said the bank's risk assessments focused too heavily on its relatively limited deposit-taking activities while failing to account for risks in its much larger credit and charge card businesses. American Express said it identified weaknesses in its Financial Crimes Compliance program through internal and external reviews, reported the relevant transactions to law enforcement and took other appropriate action, adding that a portion of the $350 million penalty had already been reserved in prior periods and would not affect its full-year 2026 financial guidance, and that it does not expect compliance costs to affect its 2027 guidance either. The company agreed to the OCC's enforcement orders without admitting or denying the findings, and the Federal Reserve separately issued a cease-and-desist order against American Express. American Express shares fell 2% in extended trading on Thursday and are down more than 16% since the beginning of the year.
American Express CompanyOCC fined American Express $350 million over anti-money laundering control failures, with a separate Fed cease-and-desist order.
