8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 26, 2020 (October 23, 2020)

AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

New York	1-7657	13-4922250
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

200 Vesey Street,

New York, New York 10285

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

(212) 640-2000

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Shares (par value $0.20 per Share)	AXP	New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(d) The Board of Directors of American Express Company (the “Company”) elected Charles Phillips as a director of the Company, effective December 1, 2020. Mr. Phillips will participate in the compensation program for non-employee directors as described under the heading “Compensation of Directors” in the Company’s definitive proxy statement on Scheduled 14A, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 24, 2020. A copy of the press release announcing the election of Mr. Phillips is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

Mr. Phillips and members of his immediate family are directors, employees and/or have equity interests in companies with whom the Company had entered into ordinary course business relationships prior to his election as a director of the Company and with whom the Company may enter into additional ordinary course relationships from time to time. These may include ordinary course merchant relationships pursuant to which these companies accept the Company’s credit and charge cards and pay the Company fees when their customers use these cards. From time to time, the Company may enter into joint marketing or other relationships with one or more of these companies in the ordinary course that encourage their customers to apply for and use the Company’s products and services. The Company may also provide ordinary course Corporate Card, travel and other payment and financing products and services, including extensions of credit, on terms and conditions similar to those available to other customers generally to some of these companies for which these companies pay fees to the Company. The Company may also engage in other commercial transactions with these companies and pay or receive fees in those transactions.

Item 9.01	Financial Statements and Exhibits
(d) Exhibits

Exhibit	Description
99.1	Press Release of American Express Company, dated October 26, 2020, announcing the election of Charles Phillips to the Company’s Board of Directors.
104	The cover page of this Current Report on Form 8-K, formatted as inline XBRL.

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SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
(REGISTRANT)
By:	/s/ Kristina V. Fink
	Name:  Kristina V. Fink
	Title:    Deputy Corporate Secretary

Date: October 26, 2020

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EX-99.1

EXHIBIT 99.1

NEWS RELEASE NEWS RELEASE NEWS RELEASE NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMERICAN EXPRESS ELECTS CHARLES PHILLIPS TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

New York, New York, October 26, 2020 – American Express (NYSE: AXP) today announced that Charles Phillips has been elected to its Board of Directors, effective December 1, 2020.

“Charles has extensive leadership experience in the technology industry with an established track record of executing significant organizational and digital transformations to drive results,” said Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express. “In addition, Charles has deep expertise in financial markets and the regulatory environment, all of which will be highly valuable additions to our Board. I look forward to having Charles’ perspective on the Board as we execute against our key priorities and position the company for growth in the future.”

Mr. Phillips is currently Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Recognize, a technology investing and transformation company. Prior to Recognize, Mr. Phillips served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Infor, Inc., an enterprise software applications provider. Mr. Phillips helped build Infor into a leading cloud business software company, successfully acquiring and integrating multiple businesses and leveraging design thinking and artificial intelligence to modernize the company’s products, which led to the sale of the company earlier this year.

Before Infor, Mr. Phillips worked for eight years at Oracle Corp., serving as Co-President with responsibility over acquisitions, sales, consulting services, industry business units, marketing and customer relationships. At Oracle, Mr. Phillips contributed to expansive growth and completed the acquisitions of 70 companies.

Mr. Phillips was previously a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and was named the top analyst for enterprise software by Institutional Investor from 1994 to 2003. Black Enterprise magazine also named him one of the Top 50 African Americans on Wall Street in 2002. Before entering business, Mr. Phillips, who comes from a line of three generations of military service, was a Captain in the U.S. Marines Corps.

He also serves on the boards of ViacomCBS, Compass, the Apollo Theater, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Phillips previously served on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Board of Directors, as well as on President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Mr. Phillips attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, and earned an MBA from Hampton University. He also received a J.D. from New York Law School.

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CONTACTS:

AMERICAN EXPRESS

Andrew Johnson

212-640-8610

Andrew.R.Johnson@aexp.com

ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS

American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress.

Key links to products, services and corporate responsibility information: charge and credit cards, business credit cards, travel services, gift cards, prepaid cards, merchant services, Accertify, InAuth, corporate card, business travel, and corporate responsibility.

Source: American Express Company

Location: Global

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XML

Document and Entity Information	Oct. 23, 2020
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Document Period End Date	Oct. 23, 2020
Entity Registrant Name	AMERICAN EXPRESS CO
Entity Central Index Key	0000004962
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	NY
Entity File Number	1-7657
Entity Tax Identification Number	13-4922250
Entity Address, Address Line One	200 Vesey Street
Entity Address, City or Town	New York
Entity Address, State or Province	NY
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	10285
City Area Code	212
Local Phone Number	640-2000
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Shares (par value $0.20 per Share)
Trading Symbol	AXP
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false