AmEx To Receive Funds

American Express will be receiving federal loans and other backing now that it is a commercial bank.The U.S. Treasury will inject 3.37 billion dollars from the Troubled Asset Recovery Program into the company,in exchange for warrants and preferred stock.As well,AmEx has gotten backing for 5.5 billion in corporate bonds from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.It can also borrow at 0.5% from the Federal Reserve's discount window.The financial crisis has hurt AmEx's ability to raise money in the capital markets,and drove it to become a bank holding company along with Goldman Sachs,Morgan Stanley and other financial firms.