American Express fined $350 million for anti-money laundering system deficiencies; Federal Reserve also takes enforcement action

U.S. federal regulators fined American Express $350 million for failing to identify and report money laundering activity in its systems. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a statement Thursday that the compliance program at American Express's bank had deficiencies. The Federal Reserve also announced an enforcement action against the New York-based company. "The bank's suspicious activity monitoring and reporting processes experienced a systemic breakdown, resulting in its failure to timely identify, evaluate, and adequately report approximately $13 billion in suspected trade-based money laundering activity that occurred over the past decade," the OCC said in its statement. American Express said in a regulatory filing that the fine will not affect the company's previously issued full-year 2026 guidance, and that the related orders do not impose an asset cap on the company. The company said costs related to remediation are also not expected to affect its 2027 guidance.