EX-10.31



 





EXHIBIT 10.31




AMENDMENT TO

AMERICAN EXPRESS

SENIOR EXECUTIVE SEVERANCE PLAN




     RESOLVED, that pursuant to Section 7.1 thereof, the American Express Senior Executive
Severance Plan (the “Plan”) is amended, effective as of January 22, 2007, as follows:




	1.	 	Section 1.6 is hereby amended in its entirety to read as follows:





          1.6 “Change in Control” means the happening of any of the following:





     (a) Any individual, entity or group (within the meaning of Section
13(d)(3) or 14(d)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
“Exchange Act”)) (a “Person”) becomes the beneficial owner (within the
meaning of Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act) of 25 percent or
more of either (i) the then outstanding common shares of the Company (the
“Outstanding Company Common Shares”) or (ii) the combined voting power of
the then outstanding voting securities of the Company entitled to vote
generally in the election of directors (the “Outstanding Company Voting
Securities”); provided, however, that such beneficial ownership shall not
constitute a Change in Control if it occurs as a result of any of the
following acquisitions of securities: (A) any acquisition directly from the
Company; (B) any acquisition by the Company or any corporation, partnership,
trust or other entity controlled by the Company (a “Subsidiary”); (C) any
acquisition by any employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or
maintained by the Company or any Subsidiary; (D) any acquisition by an
underwriter temporarily holding Company securities pursuant to an offering
of such securities; (E) any acquisition by an individual, entity or group
that is permitted to, and actually does, report its beneficial ownership on
Schedule 13-G (or any successor schedule), provided that, if any such
individual, entity or group subsequently becomes required to or does report
its beneficial ownership on Schedule 13D (or any successor schedule), then,
for purposes of this subsection, such individual, entity or group shall be
deemed to have first acquired, on the first date on which such individual,
entity or group becomes required to or does so report, beneficial ownership
of all of the Outstanding Company Common Stock and Outstanding Company
Voting Securities beneficially owned by it on such date; or (F) any
acquisition by any corporation pursuant to a reorganization, merger or
consolidation if, following such reorganization, merger or consolidation,
the conditions described in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of Section 1.6(c)
are satisfied. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Change in Control shall not
be deemed to occur solely because any Person



 









 






(the “Subject Person”) became
the beneficial owner of 25 percent or more
of the Outstanding Company Common Shares or Outstanding Company Voting
Securities as a result of the acquisition of Outstanding Company Common
Shares or Outstanding Company Voting Securities by the Company which, by
reducing the number of Outstanding Company Common Shares or Outstanding
Company Voting Securities, increases the proportional number of shares
beneficially owned by the Subject Person; provided, that if a Change in
Control would be deemed to have occurred (but for the operation of this
sentence) as a result of the acquisition of Outstanding Company Common
Shares or Outstanding Company Voting Securities by the Company, and after
such share acquisition by the Company, the Subject Person becomes the
beneficial owner of any additional Outstanding Company Common Shares or
Outstanding Company Voting Securities which increases the percentage of the
Outstanding Company Common Shares or Outstanding Company Voting Securities
beneficially owned by the Subject Person, then a Change in Control shall
then be deemed to have occurred; or




     (b) Individuals who, as of the date hereof, constitute the Board (the
“Incumbent Board”) cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of
the Board; provided, however, that any individual becoming a director
subsequent to the date hereof whose election, or nomination for election by
the Company’s shareholders, was approved by a vote of at least a majority of
the directors then comprising the Incumbent Board shall be considered as
though such individual were a member of the Incumbent Board, but excluding,
for this purpose, any such individual whose initial assumption of office
occurs as a result of either an actual or threatened election contest or
other actual or threatened solicitation of proxies or consents by or on
behalf of a Person other than the Board, including by reason of agreement
intended to avoid or settle any such actual or threatened contest or
solicitation; or




     (c) The consummation of a reorganization, merger, statutory share
exchange, consolidation, or similar corporate transaction involving the
Company or any of its direct or indirect Subsidiaries (each a “Business
Combination”), in each case, unless, following such Business Combination,
(i) the Outstanding Company Common Shares and the Outstanding Company Voting
Securities immediately prior to such Business Combination, continue to
represent (either by remaining outstanding or being converted into voting
securities of the resulting or surviving entity or any parent thereof) more
than 50 percent of the then-outstanding shares of common stock and the
combined voting power of the then-outstanding voting securities entitled to
vote generally in the election of directors, as the case may be, of the
corporation resulting from Business Combination (including, without
limitation, a corporation that, as a result of such transaction, owns the
Company or all or substantially all of



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the Company’s assets either directly
or through one or more
subsidiaries), (ii) no Person (excluding the Company, any employee
benefit plan (or related trust) of the Company, a Subsidiary or such
corporation resulting from such Business Combination or any parent or
subsidiary thereof, and any Person beneficially owning, immediately prior to
such Business Combination, directly or indirectly, 25 percent or more of the
Outstanding Company Common Shares or Outstanding Company Voting Securities,
as the case may be) beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 25 percent or
more of, respectively, the then outstanding shares of common stock of the
corporation resulting from such Business Combination (or any parent thereof)
or the combined voting power of the then outstanding voting securities of
such corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors and
(iii) at least a majority of the members of the board of directors of the
corporation resulting from such Business Combination (or any parent thereof)
were members of the Incumbent Board at the time of the execution of the
initial agreement or action of the Board providing for such Business
Combination; or




     (d) The consummation of the sale, lease, exchange or other disposition
of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, unless such assets
have been sold, leased, exchanged or disposed of to a corporation with
respect to which following such sale, lease, exchange or other disposition
(i) more than 50 percent of, respectively, the then outstanding shares of
common stock of such corporation and the combined voting power of the then
outstanding voting securities of such corporation (or any parent thereof)
entitled to vote generally in the election of directors is then beneficially
owned, directly or indirectly, by all or substantially all of the
individuals and entities who were the beneficial owners, respectively, of
the Outstanding Company Common Shares and Outstanding Company Voting
Securities immediately prior to such sale, lease, exchange or other
disposition in substantially the same proportions as their ownership
immediately prior to such sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of such
Outstanding Company Common Shares and Outstanding Company Voting Shares, as
the case may be, (ii) no Person (excluding the Company and any employee
benefit plan (or related trust)) of the Company or a Subsidiary or of such
corporation or a subsidiary thereof and any Person beneficially owning,
immediately prior to such sale, lease, exchange or other disposition,
directly or indirectly, 25 percent or more of the Outstanding Company Common
Shares or Outstanding Company Voting Securities, as the case may be)
beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 25 percent or more of
respectively, the then outstanding shares of common stock of such
corporation (or any parent thereof) and the combined voting power of the
then outstanding voting securities of such corporation (or any parent
thereof) entitled to vote generally in the election of directors and (iii)
at least a majority of the



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members of the board of directors of such
corporation (or any parent thereof) were members of the Incumbent Board at
the time of the
execution of the initial agreement or action of the Board providing for
such sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of assets of the Company; or




     (e) Approval by the shareholders of the Company of a complete
liquidation or dissolution of the Company.




	2.	 	Section 3.6 is hereby deleted in its entirety.
	 
	3.	 	The last sentence of Section 7.1 of the Plan is hereby amended to read as follows:






The foregoing sentence to the contrary notwithstanding, for a period of two years
and one day after the date of an occurrence of a Change in Control, neither the
Board of Directors nor the Committee may terminate this Plan or amend this Plan in a
manner that is detrimental to the rights of any participant of the Plan without his
or her written consent.




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