American Express fined $350m over money laundering control failures

American Express has been fined $350 million by US regulators for widespread compliance failures that left $13 billion in suspected money laundering unmonitored over nearly 11 years.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said the bank failed to maintain proper safeguards to spot and report suspicious transactions, particularly within its credit and charge card businesses.

According to the regulator's consent order, the vulnerabilities persisted between June 2014 and May 2025. During this time, the bank processed billions of dollars in suspected trade-based money laundering, including questionable card charges and repayments. In a striking detail, the OCC noted that some of these transactions involved accounts associated with bank insiders, though the regulator did not name them or detail their roles.

A massive blind spot

The root of the problem, according to the OCC, was a fundamental misallocation of compliance resources. American Express focused its risk assessments heavily on its relatively small deposit-taking business. Meanwhile, it largely ignored the much higher money-laundering risks associated with its main credit and charge card operations.

The regulator identified systemic weaknesses across the board. The bank lacked adequate staffing, sufficient compliance expertise, and proper employee training. Its internal audits were also deemed deficient, allowing these vulnerabilities to go unresolved for more than a decade.

Jonathan Gould, the Comptroller of the Currency, said the failures prevented the bank from handing over vital intelligence to law enforcement agencies.

The corporate fallout

In a statement, American Express said it had already identified weaknesses in its financial crimes compliance programme through its own internal and external reviews.

"We also investigated transactions that we identified being processed over our network by individuals misusing our products for the purchases of goods and services, reported that information to law enforcement, and took other appropriate action," the company said.

For investors, the immediate financial blow appears to be contained. American Express said it had already set aside a portion of the $350 million penalty in previous quarters. The fine will not alter its full-year financial guidance for 2026, nor does the company expect compliance costs to impact its 2027 forecasts.

Unlike some other regulatory crackdowns, the OCC did not impose an asset cap on the bank, meaning its growth will not be artificially restricted.

Even so, Wall Street reacted poorly. Shares of American Express fell 2% in extended trading on Thursday following the announcement, compounding a difficult year in which the stock has dropped more than 16%.