Big Banks Face $1 Billion in Fines Over WhatsApp, Other Unapproved Message Tools, Says Report

Major banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America are collectively facing more than $1 billion in regulatory fines, after employees used unapproved communication tools, such as private email and messaging apps like WhatsApp.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) discovered the violations after probing several banks’ record-keeping practices relating to the use of personal devices in 2021, as first reported in a previous Reuters exclusive.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is also investigating the situation as well, according to recent bank disclosures.

The investigators at the two federal agencies said they were concerned that unauthorized communications on bankers’ personal phones regarding, deals, trades, and clients would be completely lost, making it harder to look for any violations.

Officials said they were repeatedly hindered by some firms for not archiving communications as required, according to Bloomberg.

The SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Wall Street’s self-regulatory body, requires that broker-dealers keep records of all business-related communications.

Banks need to walk a fine line to comply with those requirements without infringing upon employees’ privacy, but there is no clear-cut legal basis on which financial institutions can require the inspection of their employees’ personal communications in the United States, while other countries forbid such a practice as a violation of privacy.

However, most American financial firms ban the use of personal email, texts, and other social media channels for work purposes, but the wave of proliferation in communication apps has made this a challenge to enforce, especially after many employees started working at home during the pandemic.

The scrutiny over unauthorized devices intensified after the Biden administration appointed Gary Gensler as the new chairman of the SEC in April 2021.

After investigating JPMorgan Chase over lapses in self-enforcement, which the bank admitted to in August 2021, the agency

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