American Express Bank liquidated

MOSCOW. July 22 (Interfax) - American Express Bank, the Russian subsidiary of the U.S. American Express Company, has been liquidated, it follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE).

In May 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted the bank special permission to undergo voluntary liquidation. In August, the Central Bank of Russia annulled the bank's license by written request of the credit organization.

"An entry on the liquidation of the American Express Bank Limited Liability Company credit organization has been added to the State Register of Credit Organizations," the CBR said in a statement.

The bank was registered in December 2005 and received a license from the CBR at the start of 2006. American Express Bank previously operated the American Express payment system. For many years, the bank's exclusive partner for issuing American Express cards was Russian Standard Bank.

American Express announced that it was suspending operations in Russia at the beginning of March 2022 due to the special military operation in Ukraine. At the end of that month, the CBR excluded the payment system from the corresponding register, which it had been part of since July 2013.

In October 2022, Vladimir Putin approved a list of 45 banks to be banned from entering into equity deals. The list included American Express Bank.

Among all the foreign bank subsidiaries requiring special permission to sign equity deals, American Express Bank was the first to voluntarily give up its license rather than selling the business.

American Express Bank was Russia's 293rd biggest bank by assets, according to the Interfax-100 ranking of the country's banks, at the end of Q2 2024.