We refer to the accompanying prospectus for additional information relating to the calculation of interest rates on the notes.
The Bank of New York, the trustee under the indenture of the notes, provides corporate trust services to us. In addition, affiliates of the trustee provide investment banking, bank and corporate trust services and extend credit to our affiliate, the American Express Company and many of its subsidiaries. One of the agents for the notes, BNY Capital Markets, Inc., is an affiliate of the trustee. We and our affiliates may have other customary banking relationships (including other trusteeships) with the trustee.
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION
Under the terms of an agency agreement, dated as of , 2006, we will offer the notes on a continuous basis through ABN AMRO Incorporated, Banc of America Securities LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp., BNY Capital Markets, Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Greenwich Capital Markets, Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Lehman Brothers Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., The Williams Capital Group, L.P., Utendahl Capital Partners, L.P., and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC as agents. Each of the agents has agreed to use its reasonable efforts to solicit offers to purchase the notes. We will pay each agent a commission of from 0.010% to 0.750% of the principal amount of each note sold through the agent. We will have the sole right to accept offers to purchase notes and we may reject any such offer, in whole or in part. Each agent shall have the right, in its discretion reasonably exercised, without notice to us, to reject any offer to purchase notes received by it, in whole or in part. We reserve the right to sell notes directly on our own behalf, in which case no commission will be payable to an agent.
We may also sell the notes to an agent as principal for its own account at discounts to be agreed upon at the time of sale. That agent may resell these notes to investors and other purchasers at a fixed offering price or at prevailing market prices, or prices related thereto at the time of resale or otherwise, as that agent determines and as we will specify in the applicable pricing supplement. An agent may offer the notes it has purchased as principal to other dealers. That agent may sell the notes to any dealer at a discount and, unless otherwise specified in the applicable pricing supplement, the discount allowed to any dealer will not be in excess of the discount that agent will receive from us. After the initial public offering of notes that an agent is to resell (in the case of notes to be resold at a fixed public offering price), the agent may change the public offering price, the concession and the discount.
Unless otherwise provided in the applicable pricing supplement, we do not intend to apply for the listing of the notes on a national securities exchange, but have been advised by the agents that they intend to make a market in these securities, as applicable laws and regulations permit. The agents are not obligated to do so, however, and the agents may discontinue making a market at any time without notice. No assurance can be given as to the liquidity of any trading market for these securities.
We estimate that our total expenses for the offering, excluding agent discounts or commissions, will be approximately $2,800,000.
Some of the agents or their affiliates have from time to time provided, and may in the future provide, investment banking and general financing and banking services to us and our affiliates, including American Express Company. To the extent that the proceeds of any offering of the notes are used to repay indebtedness owed to affiliates of the agents, such offerings will be made pursuant to Rule 2710(c)(8) of the Conduct Rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. One of the agents for the notes, BNY Capital Markets, Inc., is an affiliate of the trustee.
In connection with this offering, agents may purchase and sell notes in the open market. These transactions may include over-allotment, syndicate covering transactions and stabilizing transactions. Over-allotment involves sales of notes in excess of the principal amount of notes to be purchased by the agents in this offering, which creates a short position for the agents. Covering transactions involve purchases of the notes in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover short positions. Stabilizing transactions consist of certain bids or purchases of notes made for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the notes while the offering is in progress. Any of these activities may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the notes. They may also cause the price of the notes to be higher than the price that otherwise would exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The agents may conduct these transactions in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. If the agents commence any of these transactions, they may discontinue them at any time.
Each agent may be deemed to be an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act. We have agreed to indemnify each agent against liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments which the agents may be requested to make in that respect. We will reimburse the agents for customary legal and other expenses incurred by them in connection with the offer and sale of the notes.
Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable pricing supplement, the purchase price of the notes will be required to be paid in immediately available funds in New York, New York.
S-9
EXPERTS
The financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2005 incorporated in this prospectus supplement by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, to which we refer as PWC, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
Our financial statements and schedules as of and for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 incorporated in this prospectus supplement by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, to which we refer as E&Y, an independent registered public accounting firm as set forth in their report included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. We have incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement our audited financial statements and schedules as of December 31, 2004 and 2003, and for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2004 in reliance upon such report given on the authority of E&Y as experts in accounting and auditing.
On November 22, 2004, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of American Express Company appointed PWC as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2005 and dismissed E&Y as our auditors for the 2005 fiscal year. E&Y has completed its engagement as our auditors for the 2004 fiscal year.
With respect to the unaudited interim financial information for the period ended March 31, 2006 incorporated by reference herein and in the accompanying prospectus, PWC, our independent registered public accounting firm, has reported that they applied limited procedures in accordance with professional standards for a review of such information, which is substantially less in scope than an audit, and, therefore, that they do not express an opinion on that interim financial information. Accordingly, the degree of reliance on their reports on such information should be restricted in light of the limited nature of the review procedures applied. The accountants are not subject to the liability provisions of Section 11 of the Securities Act for their reports on the unaudited interim financial information because each such report is not a “report” or a “part” of the registration statement prepared or certified by the accountants within the meaning of Sections 7 and 11 of the Securities Act.
S-10
American Express Credit Corporation
Medium-Term Senior Notes, Series C
Due Nine Months or More From Date of Issue
PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT
June 8, 2006
(To prospectus dated June 8, 2006)
| |
ABN AMRO Incorporated | Banc of America Securities LLC |
Barclays Capital | BNP PARIBAS |
BNY Capital Markets, Inc. | Citigroup |
Credit Suisse | Deutsche Bank Securities |
Goldman Sachs | JPMorgan |
Lehman Brothers | Merrill Lynch |
RBS Greenwich Capital | Utendahl Capital Partners, L.P. |
Wachovia Securities | Williams Capital |
PART II—INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 14.Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The following is a statement of the estimated expenses (other than underwriting compensation) to be incurred by us in connection with a distribution of an assumed amount of $25,000,000,000 of securities registered under this registration statement. The assumed amount has been used to demonstrate the expenses of an offering and does not represent an estimate of the amount of securities that may be registered or distributed because such amount is unknown at this time.
| | | | |
SEC registration fee | | $ | 0* | |
Printing and engraving expenses | | | 500,000 | |
Legal fees and expenses | | | 500,000 | |
Blue Sky fees and expenses | | | 10,000 | |
Accounting fees and expenses | | | 400,000 | |
Fees and expenses of trustees and warrant agent | | | 400,000 | |
Fees of Rating Agencies | | | 1,500,000 | |
Miscellaneous | | | 190,000 | |
| |
|
| |
Total | | $ | 3,500,000 | |
| |
|
| |
| |
* | Deferred in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r). |
Item 15.Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Our by-laws require us to indemnify our directors and officers to the extent permitted by Delaware law. In addition, American Express Company has purchased insurance policies, which provide coverage for our directors and officers in certain situations where we cannot directly indemnify our directors or officers.
The form Underwriting Agreements filed as Exhibits 1(a) and 1(b) to this Registration Statement and the form Agency Agreement filed as Exhibit 1(c) to this Registration Statement provide for indemnification of, or contribution to, directors and officers of the Company by the underwriters and agents against certain liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in certain instances.
Item 16.Exhibits.
The “Exhibit Index” on pages II-5 and II-6 is hereby incorporated by reference.
Item 17.Undertakings.
The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
| | | |
(a) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement: |
| | |
| | (i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933; |
| | | |
| | (ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement |
(or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and |
II-1
| | | |
| | (iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the |
registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement; |
| | | |
provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(i), (a)(ii) and (a)(iii) above do not apply if the registration statement is on Form S-3 and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of the registration statement. |
|
(b) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initialbona fideoffering thereof. |
| | |
(c) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering. |
| | |
(d) That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser: |
| | |
(i) Each prospectus filed by a Registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and |
| | | |
(ii) Each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5) or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii) or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by Section 10(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which the prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date. |
| | | |
(e) That, for the purpose of determining liability of the Registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the Registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the Registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the Registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser: |
| | |
(i) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the Registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424; |
| | | |
(ii) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the Registrant or used or referred to by the Registrant; |
| | | |
(iii) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about an undersigned Registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of an undersigned Registrant; and |
| | | |
(iv) Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by an undersigned |
II-2
| | | |
Registrant to the purchaser. |
| | | |
(f) That, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
| | |
(g) To file an application for the purpose of determining the eligibility of the trustee to act under subsection (a) of Section 310 of the Trust Indenture Act in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission under Section 305(b)(2) of the Trust Indenture Act. |
| | |
(h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, office or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, that the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. |
II-3
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Wilmington, State of Delaware on the 8th day of June, 2006.
| | | | |
| | | AMERICAN EXPRESS CREDIT CORPORATION |
| | | |
| | | By: /s/ Christopher S. Forno |
| | | |
|
| | | | Christopher S. Forno |
| | | President and Chief Executive Officer |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on the 8th day of June, 2006.
| | | | | | | | |
Signature | | Title | | |
|
| | | |
| | | |
/s/ Christopher S. Forno
| | President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
| | |
| |
Christopher S. Forno | |
| | | | |
* | | Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer | | |
| |
Suzanne L. Miller | | |
| | | | |
* | | Chairman of the Board, Chief Financial Officer and Director | | |
| |
Paul H. Hough | | |
| | | | |
* | | Vice President and Director | | |
| |
David L. Yowan | | |
| | | | |
* By | /s/ Stephen P. Norman
|
| Stephen P. Norman Attorney-in-fact |
II-4
EXHIBIT INDEX
| | |
Exhibit | | |
| | |
1(a) | — | Form of Underwriting Agreement for Debt Securities* |
| | |
1(b) | — | Form of Underwriting Agreement for Warrants to Purchase Debt Securities** |
| | |
1(c) | — | Form of Agency Agreement** |
| | |
4(a) | — | Form of Indenture, dated as of , 2006, between the Company and The Bank of New York, as trustee* |
| | |
4(b) | — | Form of Supplemental Indenture providing for an additional Trustee* |
| | |
4(c) | — | Form of Note with optional redemption provisions* |
| | |
4(d) | — | Form of Note with optional redemption and sinking fund provisions* |
| | |
4(e) | — | Form of Original Issue Discount Note with optional redemption provisions* |
| | |
4(f) | — | Form of Zero Coupon Note with optional redemption provisions* |
| | |
4(g) | — | Form of Variable Rate Note with optional redemption and repayment provisions* |
| | |
4(h) | — | Form of Extendible Note with optional redemption and repayment provisions* |
| | |
4(i) | — | Form of Fixed Rate Medium-Term Note* |
| | |
4(j) | — | Form of Floating Rate Medium-Term Note* |
| | |
4(k) | — | Form of Warrant Agreement* |
| | |
4(l) | — | Form of Permanent Global Registered Fixed Rate Medium-Term Senior Note, Series B* |
| | |
4(m) | — | Form of Permanent Global Registered Floating Rate Medium-Term Senior Note, Series B* |
| | |
5 | — | Opinion and Consent of David S. Carroll, Esq. * |
| | |
12.1 | — | Computation in support of ratio of earnings to fixed charges of the Company (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 12.1 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2006) |
| | |
12.2 | — | Computation in support of ratio of earnings to fixed charges of American Express Company (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 12.2 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and Exhibit 12.2 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2006) |
| | |
23(a) | — | Consent of Counsel (included in Exhibit 5)* |
| | |
23(b) | — | Consent of Ernst & Young LLP* |
| | |
23(c) | — | Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP* |
| | |
24(a) | — | Power of Attorney* |
| | |
25(a) | — | Form T-1 Statement of Eligibility and Qualification under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 of The Bank of New York* |
| |
* | Filed herewith. |
| |
** | To be filed prior to or in connection with the first offering contemplated by such agreement as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference. |
II-5