News
American Express Sets Aside $60M for Possible DOJ Action Against Miami Unit
By Brian Orsak
printAmerican Express Co. has set aside $60 million for regulatory and legal matters related to a U.S. Justice Department investigation of anti-money laundering compliance programs at its private banking operation. The financial services company acknowledged Wednesday in a regulatory filing that it established the reserve during the first quarter for a possible action against its American Express Bank International unit. American Express first disclosed the matter when it reported first-quarter earnings on April 19. The Miami-based unit was subpoenaed by the Justice Department in early 2004 for information on its AML programs and some client accounts, American Express said. Last...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
The U.S. Justice Department has issued a rare letter exculpating a former top American Express banker fired in the wake of a multimillion-dollar anti-money laundering deferred prosecution agreement reached in August 2007.
A Milwaukee-based company sues American Express for failing to block illegal transactions and Royal Bank of Scotland discloses that the U.K. Financial Services Authority is investigating it, in this week's news roundup.
We never said compliance professionals had it easy, and 2010 doesn't look to be a year when things will be any better for the anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing industry.
A former American Express compliance officer is facing an uphill battle in his efforts to win $7.5 million from the bank and an apology from the U.S. Justice Department, say lawyers.
A group of 90 American, Israeli and Canadian citizens are suing American Express Bank and Lebanese Canadian Bank for $650 million, alleging the institutions provided financial services to blacklisted terror group Hizbollah.
Rick Small, head of global compliance at GE Money, joins American Express Co. this month as vice president of anti-money laundering and sanctions risk management. Separately, Wachovia Bank has hired Dan Soto, former chief compliance officer at RBC Centura, to head its AML efforts.
Two Venezuelan businessmen accused by U.S. prosecutors of acting as clandestine agents for Hugo Chavez's government have dropped a lawsuit against American Express Bank International related to $25 million the men had placed with the bank.
The $1.1 billion sale to U.K. bank Standard Chartered PLC follows enforcement actions issued in August requiring American Express Bank Ltd., the American Express private banking subsidiary, to pay $65 million in penalties and acknowledge its responsibility for AML and Bank Secrecy Act failures.
But the bad news continued this week for the company as its American Express Bank Ltd. unit reached an agreement on Tuesday with the New York State Banking Department to improve its AML regime.
The penalty, the largest against a U.S. institution for AML violations, resulted from a four-year investigation of a Colombian narcotics and money laundering operation.
A senior DEA official confirmed that the agency is investigating the company's Miami-based private banking unit and said the case involves money laundering schemes known as black market peso exchanges, according to a report slated for publication in the July issue of Forbes.
The private banking unit is overseen by the company's Miami-based American Express Bank International, and has been plagued by anti-money laundering related regulatory trouble for more than a decade.
The Miami Beach, Fla.-based bank didn't adequately monitor accounts for money services businesses or correspondent banks for possible money laundering, according to federal and state regulators. As a result, the bank also failed to timely file suspicious activity reports, the order says.
The panel, which gives the Treasury Department feedback on transaction reporting rules, will have 11 vacancies as of Feb. 28, FinCEN said.