American Express National Bank has been hit with a $350 million civil money penalty by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the main US banking regulator, over serious failures in its anti-money laundering (AML) and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) controls.
The Utah-based lender was also issued a cease-and-desist order, underscoring the gravity of the shortcomings the regulator uncovered in its compliance framework.
According to the OCC, the bank failed to maintain a BSA/AML compliance program meeting regulatory standards. Deficiencies included inadequate resources, staff lacking sufficient expertise, systemic internal-control gaps, weak independent testing, and poor training for employees and directors alike.
Crucially, the regulator found the bank had misaligned its risk assessments, focusing heavily on deposit-account products while neglecting its dominant credit and charge-card business, precisely where its exposure was greatest.
The most damaging finding concerned customer due diligence. Systemic breakdowns meant Amex failed to identify, evaluate and report roughly $13 billion of suspected trade-based money laundering over the past decade, depriving law enforcement of vital intelligence.
Comptroller Jonathan Gould said banks of Amex’s size and complexity must devote adequate resources to prevent money laundering, calling such safeguards critical to both economic and national security.
Gould added that Amex’s program was poorly aligned with its actual money-laundering risks, and that the OCC’s action would compel the bank to address those risks properly while continuing to serve customers.
The penalty adds to a widening regulatory crackdown on AML failures across major US financial institutions, signalling intensifying scrutiny of compliance standards sector-wide.
