OCC Fines American Express National Bank $350 Million Over AML Failures
Federal regulators hit American Express's Utah bank unit with a $350M penalty and cease-and-desist order for anti-money laundering compliance failures.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Tuesday imposed a $350 million civil money penalty against American Express National Bank, headquartered in Sandy, Utah, citing significant deficiencies in the institution's Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance program.
Alongside the monetary penalty, the OCC issued a cease-and-desist order against the bank, a formal enforcement mechanism that legally compels the institution to correct identified deficiencies and comply with regulatory requirements going forward. Such orders carry binding legal weight and are among the more serious tools available to federal bank supervisors.
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The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions to maintain robust programs designed to detect and report suspicious activity that could indicate money laundering, terrorist financing, or other financial crimes. Failures in BSA and AML compliance have drawn intensifying scrutiny from federal regulators across the banking sector in recent years, resulting in a string of high-profile enforcement actions and nine-figure penalties.
American Express National Bank operates as the federally chartered banking subsidiary of American Express Company, one of the largest card networks and financial services firms in the United States. The OCC, as the primary federal supervisor of nationally chartered banks, has authority to examine institutions and impose corrective measures when compliance shortfalls are identified.
Continue reading at OCC News.
