All off-channel communications articles
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Premium
SEC official breaks down agency calculus for off-channel comms penalties
Sanjay Wadwha, deputy director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, discussed the agency’s rationale for issuing widely disparate penalties for off-channel communications recordkeeping violations, as well as violations of its amended marketing rule.
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News Brief
Senvest latest rapped by SEC over off-channel comms
Registered investment adviser Senvest Management agreed to pay $6.5 million as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission addressing admitted off-channel communications violations and separate code of ethics failures.
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News Brief
CFTC dings U.S. Bank, Oppenheimer over off-channel comms violations
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced settlements with U.S. Bank and Oppenheimer & Co. for admitted recordkeeping and supervision failures regarding employee use of off-channel communications for conducting business.
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News Brief
Ameriprise expecting $50M SEC fine over off-channel comms
Ameriprise Financial disclosed it recorded a $50 million accrual related to the resolution of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into use of off-channel communications by its employees for conducting business.
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Resource
e-Book: Solving the off-channel communications conundrum
Firms attempting to meet regulatory requirements for monitoring employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes face a bedeviling number of obstacles.
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News Brief
Latest SEC off-channel comms sweep nets $81M in fines against 16 firms
The ongoing off-channel communications sweep by the Securities and Exchange Commission netted 16 more broker-dealers and investment advisers, with the latest wave of fines totaling more than $81 million.
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Premium
Table: SEC, CFTC off-channel communications penalties
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have combined to levy about $2.8 billion in penalties (so far) against firms and their affiliates in response to recordkeeping failures regarding employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes.
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Webcast
CPE Webcast: Crafting policies for digital dialogue
This webinar will shed light on the critical need for heightened awareness regarding business communications in the financial sector.
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News Brief
DOJ, FTC re-emphasize requirement to retain business communications
The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission updated language contained in standard preservation letters regarding the maintaining of business communications made via collaboration tools and ephemeral messaging apps.
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News Brief
FINRA report: Exam trends on off-channel comms, crypto, cybersecurity
A new report from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority provides observations from examiners on emerging issues affecting the industry, including surveilling potential use of off-channel communications by employees, crypto-asset developments, cybersecurity trends, and more.
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Opinion
Ten things I’d like to see happen in 2024
Election years in the United States, United Kingdom, and at European Parliament, along with ongoing geopolitical tensions, make 2024 difficult to predict—aside from the expectation compliance officers will be busy.
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Premium
Five compliance triumphs from 2023
A financial services giant’s compliance mea culpa that could serve to benefit the rest of the profession, a chemical company’s praised FCPA settlement, and an example of the value of whistleblowers highlight CW’s annual list of laudable ethics and compliance moments.
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Premium
Tackling off-channel communications? Don’t forget ephemeral messaging
As if creating policies and procedures to handle employee use of off-channel communications is not difficult enough, ephemeral messaging platforms can make it even more difficult to recover messages in transit.
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Premium
Compliance officers share lack of faith in off-channel comms monitoring policies
Addressing employee use of off-channel communications for conducting business was clearly on the minds of compliance officers who responded to our “Inside the Mind of the CCO” survey, but their confidence in their related policies and procedures was surprisingly weak.
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Opinion
No time like present to tackle thorny problem of off-channel comms
The new messaging on use off-channel communications for business should be clear: What was done before is no more. It cannot continue. The stakes are too high.
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Premium
How technology can help track off-channel communications use
Establishing a set of policies and procedures to prevent employee use of nonauthorized electronic communications to conduct business is relatively straightforward. The hard part is monitoring compliance.
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Premium
Solving the off-channel communications conundrum
Firms monitoring employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes face numerous obstacles. How much is enough, in the opinion of regulators? How much is too much, in the eyes of employees? Determinations must be made as regulators crack down.
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Premium
N.Y. law to pose hurdle for RIA’s off-channel comms supervision efforts
A New York state law that takes effect next year will make it more difficult for registered investment advisers in the state to conduct proactive testing for violations of their firms’ off-channel communication policies.
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News Brief
Broker-dealers, IAs, credit raters caught in SEC off-channel comms sweep
A dozen financial services firms were penalized by the Securities and Exchange Commission as the agency continues its enforcement sweep of recordkeeping violations regarding employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes.
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News Brief
U.K. regulator fines Morgan Stanley $6.8M for off-channel comms
The U.K.’s Office of Gas and Electricity Markets fined Morgan Stanley £5.4 million (U.S. $6.8 million) for allegedly failing to record and retain electronic communications by its wholesale energy traders over two years.