HSBC, Scotiabank latest caught in regs’ off-channel comms sting
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2023-05-11T19:28:00
The Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC were fined $22.5 million and $15 million, respectively, by U.S. regulators on Thursday for admitted recordkeeping failures regarding employee use of off-channel communications to conduct company business.
The Bank of Nova Scotia (also known as Scotiabank) and its affiliate, Scotia Capital USA, were fined a collective $15 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and an additional $7.5 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for longstanding failures to properly maintain, preserve, or produce records and for failing to provide proper oversight of employees use of off-channel communications on personal cell phones and messaging platforms, including WhatsApp.
HSBC Securities was fined $15 million by the SEC for similar compliance failures.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT
You are not logged in and do not have access to members-only content.
If you are already a registered user or a member, SIGN IN now.
Related articles
-
PremiumSEC, CFTC call for self-reporting to reduce off-channel comms backlash
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have indicated they will be more forgiving to financial services firms that voluntarily self-report recordkeeping violations and take remedial actions before being asked to do so.
-
News BriefWells Fargo fined $200M in latest SEC, CFTC off-channel comms sweep
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission continued their crackdown on financial firms’ recordkeeping failures regarding employee use of off-channel communications with $555 million in total fines levied against nine institutions and their affiliates.
-
News BriefBNP Paribas nearing settlements with SEC, CFTC over off-channel comms
BNP Paribas disclosed it reached proposed settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission regarding alleged use of off-channel communications for business by employees.
More from Regulatory Enforcement
-
ArticleFTC suit against Uber gains traction with 21 states and DC joining in
The Federal Trade Commission allegations against Uber, alleging deceptive billing and subscription cancellations, have snowballed, with 21 states and the District of Columbia joining the lawsuit.
-
ArticleTop Ethics and Compliance Failures of 2025
The 2025 year has been so rich with compliance stinkers, and rife with poor judgment, compliance missteps, outright malfeasance and greed, greed, greed, that it was almost impossible to choose just six epic compliance failures from this year’s massive poop pile.
-
ArticleFATF focus on criminal asset recovery points to a more investigatory role for compliance
Global organised crime is booming, and only 1 to 2 percent of the $4 trillion black economy is intercepted, according to figures from the Financial Action Task Force. Its new guidance suggests that countries should focus on rapid investigations, collaborative intelligence gathering, and confiscating the proceeds of criminal activity.