American Express has received a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for information regarding the credit card company's policies related to merchant surcharging, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

The company said it received a Civil Investigative Demand on Oct. 14 from the Justice Department's antitrust division. The department can issue CIDs to anyone it believes may have information related to an investigation, the filing said. Receipt of such a request does not mean that a formal complaint will be filed.

American Express said it intends to cooperate with the department's request for documents and other information regarding the company's policies related to merchant surcharging and its "anti-steering" policies that prohibit merchants from discriminating against the American Express card in favor of other forms of payment.

Meanwhile, the New York-based credit card company painted a bleak picture of the current operating environment, saying in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it does not expect to meet its financial targets until economic conditions improve.

On Thursday, American Express said it would cut 7,000 jobs, or about 10 percent of its worldwide work force, in an effort to slash costs by $1.8 billion in 2009 as it prepares for an increasingly difficult economic environment.