American Express 2015 Annual Report Download - page 106

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements, which address our expected
business and financial performance, among other matters, contain words such as “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “aim,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “likely,” and similar expressions.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date on which they are made. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited
to, the following:
• our ability to grow in the future, which will depend in part on the following: an acceleration of billed business and
revenue growth, which could be impacted by, among other things, weakening economic conditions in the U.S. or
internationally, a decline in consumer confidence impacting the willingness and ability of Card Members to
sustain spending, a further decline in gas prices, a further strengthening of the U.S. dollar, a greater erosion of
the average discount rate than expected and lower spending on new cards acquired than estimated; our
success in addressing competitive pressures and implementing strategies and business initiatives, including
growing profitable spending through proprietary, cobrand and network products, increasing penetration among
corporate, middle market and small business clients, expanding our international footprint, growing loyalty
coalitions and increasing merchant acceptance; the timing and impact of any potential sale of the Costco U.S.
Card Member loan portfolio; realizing incremental economics associated with the Costco U.S. contract
extension, which could be impacted by, among other things, Card Member behavior, including the desire of
Costco U.S. Card Members to continue to use their Costco U.S. cobrand cards and the availability to those Card
Members of other payment forms; the impact of any potential restructuring charges or other contingencies,
including, but not limited to, litigation-related expenses, impairments, the imposition of fines or civil money
penalties, an increase in Card Member reimbursements and changes in reserves; credit performance remaining
in line with current expectations; continued growth of Card Member loans held for investment; the ability to
continue to realize benefits from restructuring actions and operating leverage at levels consistent with current
expectations; the amount we spend on growth initiatives; changes in interest rates beyond current
expectations; the impact of regulation and litigation, which could affect the profitability of our business
activities, limit our ability to pursue business opportunities, require changes to business practices or alter our
relationships with partners, merchants and Card Members; our tax rate remaining in line with current
expectations, which could be impacted by, among other things, our geographic mix of income being weighted
more to higher tax jurisdictions than expected and unfavorable tax audits and other unanticipated tax items; the
impact of accounting changes and reclassifications; and our ability to continue executing the share repurchase
program;
• our ability to reduce our overall cost base by $1 billion by the end of 2017, which will depend in part on the timing
and financial impact of future reengineering plans (including whether we will recognize restructuring charges in
future periods), which could be impacted by factors such as our inability to mitigate the operational and other
risks posed by potential staff reductions, our inability to develop and implement technology resources to realize
cost savings, underestimating hiring needs related to some of the job positions being eliminated and other
employee needs not currently anticipated, lower than expected attrition rates and higher than expected
redeployment rates; our ability to reduce annual operating expenses, which could be impacted by, among other
things, the factors identified below; and our ability to optimize and lower marketing and promotion expenses,
which could be impacted by higher advertising and mailing costs, competitive pressures that may require
additional expenditures or limit our ability to reduce costs, contractual obligations with business partners, the
availability of opportunities to invest at a higher level due to favorable business results and changes in
macroeconomic conditions;
• the ability to reduce annual operating expenses, which could be impacted by increases in significant categories
of operating expenses, such as consulting or professional fees, including as a result of increased litigation,
compliance or regulatory-related costs, technology costs or fraud costs; our ability to develop, implement and
achieve substantial benefits from reengineering plans; higher than expected employee levels; the impact of
changes in foreign currency exchange rates on costs; the payment of civil money penalties, disgorgement,
restitution, non-income tax assessments and litigation-related settlements; impairments of goodwill or other
assets; management’s decision to increase or decrease spending in such areas as technology, business and
product development and sales forces depending on overall business performance; greater than expected
inflation or merit increases; our ability to balance expense control and investments in the business; the impact
of accounting changes and reclassifications; and the level of acquisition activity and related expenses;
• our lending write-off rates increasing more quickly than current expectations and provision expense being
higher than current expectations, which will depend in part on changes in the level of loan balances, delinquency
rates of Card Members, unemployment rates, the volume of bankruptcies and recoveries of previously written-
off loans;
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