OCC Assesses $350 Million Civil Money Penalty Against American Express

# OCC Assesses $350 Million Civil Money Penalty Against American Express

> Evidence tier: B1
> Evidence type: Primary regulator enforcement announcement
> Source: [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency](https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2026/nr-occ-2026-87.html)
> Published: 2026-10-08
> Captured: 2026-10-12T22:49:48.235Z

## Source summary

The OCC announced a cease-and-desist order and a USD 350 million civil money penalty against American Express National Bank on October 8. The regulator found that risk assessments insufficiently covered its credit and charge card business, alongside deficiencies in resources, controls, testing and customer due diligence. The OCC says the bank failed to timely identify, evaluate and adequately report approximately USD 13 billion of suspected trade-based money laundering activity over the past decade.

## Why it matters

The action directly concerns compliance controls around a major card issuer's business. The USD 13 billion figure describes suspected activity cited by the regulator, not a proven loss, the penalty amount or a finding that every underlying transaction was money laundering. The announcement also identifies a concurrent Federal Reserve order.

## Key numbers

- **OCC Assesses Civil Money Penalty Against American Express:** $350 Million
- **The OCC announced a cease-and-desist order and a civil money penalty against…:** USD 350 million
- **The OCC says the bank failed to timely identify, evaluate and adequately repo…:** USD 13 billion

## Topics and entities

- Industry lane: Payment infrastructure
- Entities: American Express National Bank / OCC
- Payment infrastructure

## Evidence and credibility note

Source body read; claims remain attributed and event stage, uncertainty and verification limits are preserved.

Date evidence: visible article date: October 8, 2026

## First-party corroboration

No directly corresponding A1 company announcement is currently linked.

## Original-source traceback

[Open the original Office of the Comptroller of the Currency report](https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2026/nr-occ-2026-87.html)

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This is a structured Payments Hot Markdown source summary derived from external reporting. Use the original link above to read the publisher's article; copyright remains with the original publisher.