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American Express Sells Troubled Private Banking Unit for $1.1 Billion
By Brian Orsak
printAmerican Express Co. agreed yesterday to sell its international and private banking unit weeks after U.S. regulators ordered the unit to pay $65 million in penalties for anti-money laundering deficiencies. 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 the penalties and acknowledge its responsibility for AML and Bank Secrecy Act failures. American Express sold the unit to move out of wealth management, an industry whose compliance risks proved costly for the company, said Robert J. Ellis, a senior analyst...
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