With $1.1 Billion Penalty Deal, SEC Joins DOJ in Firing Warning Shot at Financial Services Industry About Outdated Employee Communications Policies

Last week, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined 16 Wall Street firms a total of $1.1 billion for recordkeeping violations based on the failure to maintain employees’ electronic communications, such as texts and WhatsApp messages, reflecting official business. The SEC’s concerns arose during investigations into other matters at those firms, when the firms produced relevant communications from the personal devices of a sample of employees. The process revealed that a substantial majority of those “off-channel” communications were not maintained by the firms.