EARNINGS
AmEx Warns About Profit,
Says It Will Cut 550 Jobs
American Express /zigman2/quotes/203805826/composite AXP -3.55% Co. said it will cut about 550 jobs as it consolidates some facilities and projected fourth-quarter earnings slightly below estimates.
AmEx, which issues charge cards that must be paid off each month and credit cards that allow customers to carry a balance, said the moves reflect a decline in service volume as more routine transactions migrate to online and mobile channels.
In the restructuring, AmEx will close a Greensboro, N.C., facility and study whether to transfer work done at a Madrid service center. The moves will lead to charges of $38 million to $51 million this year and annual cost savings of about $70 million, starting next year. AmEx has 58,000 employees.
Excluding restructuring, severance and other charges, it expects to report on Monday a profit of 94 cents a share, a penny shy of what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect.
"Despite an uneven economic environment, credit-quality trends also continued to improve, with key indicators for the quarter now back to—or better than—historical levels," Chief Executive Kenneth I. Chenault said.
Lauren Pollock
THE COURTHOUSE
Swiss Banker Found Guilty Of Breaking Secrecy Laws
ZURICH—A Swiss banker who claims to have handed WikiLeaks details of rich tax evaders has been found guilty of coercion and breaking Switzerland's strict banking-secrecy laws.
A judge at Zurich's Regional Court sentenced Rudolf Elmer to a fine of more than 6,000 Swiss francs ($6,000). Mr. Elmer said at Wednesday's trial that he acted after being persecuted by his former employer, Julius Baer. He also said he had wanted to expose tax evasion by rich businesspeople and politicians when he sent confidential banking files to tax authorities, media and, later, WikiLeaks.
Associated Press
THE COURTHOUSE
Judge Limits Cantor's Claim
For Lost Profits From 9/11
Cantor Fitzgerald can't pursue damages for "lost profits" against American Airlines and its parent, AMR /zigman2/quotes/200251330/composite AMR -1.62% Corp., arising from the deaths of employees in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, a federal judge ruled.
The financial-services company, which lost 658 employees in the attacks, sued American alleging negligence for failing to prevent terrorists from seizing control of American Flight 11.
American calls the damages request excessive.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan in an opinion Wednesday said that "as a matter of law, Cantor Fitzgerald's claim for damages, however theorized, may not include claims for lost profits resulting from the deaths of, and injuries to, its officers and employees on September 11."
The judge indicated Cantor can pursue damages from injuries to its property and lost profit "naturally and probably flowing from the injury to its property." He gave the firm until Feb. 28 to revise its damage claims to remove any claims for interruption of its business arising from the deaths of and injuries to its employees.
A Cantor Fitzgerald spokesman declined to comment.
Chad Bray
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