OCC fines American Express unit $350 million over decade of BSA/AML program failures

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

The OCC has penalised American Express National Bank $350 million and issued a cease-and-desist order for BSA/AML compliance deficiencies, finding the bank failed to tailor its risk assessment to its dominant card business and missed around $13 billion of suspected trade-based money laundering over the past decade. The Federal Reserve acted concurrently against affiliated entities.

• The OCC assessed a $350 million civil money penalty and a cease-and-desist order against American Express National Bank on October 8, 2026.
• The bank failed to timely identify, evaluate and sufficiently report approximately $13 billion of suspected trade-based money laundering over the past decade.
• The OCC found the risk assessment focused on narrow deposit products and insufficiently on dominant credit and charge card products.
• Cited deficiencies included inadequate resources and expertise, systemic internal control gaps, weak independent testing and weak BSA/AML training.
• The Federal Reserve issued a concurrent cease-and-desist order against American Express Company and American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

Executive summary

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced on October 8, 2026 a cease-and-desist order and a $350 million civil money penalty against American Express National Bank, Sandy, Utah, for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering…

Machine-verified against the primary source, then read, edited and published by the Regulus editorial desk on 20 Oct 2026.