American Express Hit With $350 Million Penalty for Anti-Money-Laundering Gaps

The OCC fined American Express National Bank $350 million after finding systemic weaknesses in its anti-money-laundering program tied to about $13 billion in suspected trade-based money laundering over a decade. Regulators cited insufficient staffing, expertise, internal controls, independent testing, training, and risk assessments. The Federal Reserve also issued a separate cease-and-desist order against American Express entities.

The OCC penalized American Express National Bank $350 million. It found AML program weaknesses, including inadequate staffing, limited expertise, internal control gaps, weak independent testing, and insufficient training for staff and directors. Risk assessments underweighted credit and charge card operations while focusing on narrower deposit products. Customer due diligence and identification procedures also had shortcomings.

The failures involved roughly $13 billion in suspected trade-based money laundering over ten years. The OCC said the bank did not timely identify, evaluate, or report suspicious activity. The Federal Reserve separately issued a cease-and-desist order against American Express Company and American Express Travel Related Services Company. The OCC also issued one against the bank. The penalty goes to the U.S. Treasury.

Count? First para: The(1) OCC2 penalized3 American4 Express5 National6 Bank7 $3508 million9. It10 found11 AML12 program13 weaknesses14, including15 inadequate16 staffing17, limited18 expertise19, internal20 control21 gaps22, weak23 independent24 testing25, and26 insufficient27 training28 for29 staff30 and31 directors32. Risk33 assessments34 underweighted35 credit36 and37 charge38 card39 operations40 while41 focusing42 on43 narrower44 deposit45 products46. Customer47 due48 diligence49 and50 identification51 procedures52 also53 had54 shortcomings55. Good 55.

Second: The1 failures2 involved3 roughly4 $13 5 billion6 in7 suspected8 trade-based