Banking, finance, and taxes
What American Express Did Not Say in Its EU Rebuttal
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If you knew one thing was coming it would be that American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) would issue a statement after reports surfaced that the European Commission was drafting new proposals of regulation for caps on fees. After all, the market was extremely worried that this would adversely impact its fee structure. The credit card company did address the issue stating that the regulatory issues would be addressed next week. What stood out on each and every point that AmEx made is that there is a strong rebuttal, and even a “what we didn’t want to say” theme, on each.
While the news seemed more targeted toward American Express, there was secondary and tertiary concern over Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA). In some aspects the proposal may bring back fears over interchange fees that were a hot topic in recent years in the United States.
We have crafted what AmEx did not want to say in a translation, but of course only after it gave its own bulletin points.
Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) were hardly impacted by the news in the first place. The mid-day price is down only about 0.1% at $189.15. Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is now up by 0.25% at $591.20, but shares were actually down by almost 2%, or almost $10, early in the trading day.
While the clarification points and comments from American Express Company may seem very facetious, this is just part of the game. Companies have to be politically correct and they can’t exactly just say that they will be fighting issues over money in so few words. New proposed regulations sneak out, and the companies affected fight back. American Express shares were down almost 5% early this morning but the stock price has recovered and shares are down now by only 2.2% at $76.55 since the company has issued its statement.
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