American Express subsidiary bank in Russia files for liquidation

MOSCOW. July 8 (Interfax) - Russia-based American Express Bank has filed for liquidation, data in the Unified State Registry of Legal Entities (USRLE) indicate.

Consequently, American Express Bank has become the first on the list of foreign banks' subsidiaries, whose transactions with stakes require special permission, to decide to surrender its license voluntarily rather than selling the business.

President Vladimir Putin in October 2022 approved the list of 45 banks for which a ban on transactions with stakes and shares was established, including American Express Bank.

The bank received permission from the president to conduct voluntary liquidation in accordance with the procedure in May.

American Express announced the suspension of operations in Russia in early March 2022 owing to the situation in Ukraine, and the Central Bank of Russia at the end of March 2022 excluded the payment system from the corresponding register. It had been included in the register in July 2013.

American Express Bank swung to a net loss of 87.4 million rubles to Russian Accounting Standards in 2023 from net profit of 428.5 million rubles the previous year.

American Express Bank belongs to the United States' American Express Company. Registered in December 2005, it received a license from the CBR in early 2006.

American Express Bank operated the American Express payment system. Russian Standard Bank had been the exclusive partner for issuing American Express cards for many years.