Wall Street Banks: Messaging run sloppy now a total of 549 million dollars are due
10. August 2023Wall Street Banks: Messaging run sloppy now a total of 549 million dollars are due
New York, 8/9/2023
US regulators have slapped $549 million in civil penalties on Wall Street firms for widespread failures to keep records related to employees‘ use of messaging apps like WhatsApp.
Eleven companies, including Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas, agreed to pay the SEC $289 million to resolve the allegations. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined four banks an additional $260 million.
According to the SEC, the companies have admitted that their employees frequently use messaging apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage and Signal on their personal devices for business communications.
Most of these „off-channel“ communications were improperly maintained, in violation of federal securities laws and interfering with regulators‘ oversight of financial markets.
Wells Fargo, the biggest offender, was fined $200 million. BNP Paribas and Société Générale, both French banks, have each been fined $110 million, and the Bank of Montreal faces a $60 million fine.
Wall Street regulators have now recovered more than $2 billion in settlements related to accounting violations.
