Societe Generale says SEC probing employee off-channel comms

French bank Société Générale is the latest financial institution to be swept up in U.S. regulators’ crackdown on the use of personal cellphones and private apps by employees to conduct official business.

In its fourth-quarter financial statements published online Wednesday, the bank disclosed its U.S.-based investment bank and trading arm, SG Americas Securities, “received requests for information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) focused on compliance with record-keeping requirements in connection with business-related communications on messaging platforms that were not approved by the firm.”

The disclosure acknowledged the SEC has entered into settlements with other firms regarding the matter and that SG Americas Securities was cooperating with the investigation.