Nine Wall Street firms fined $549 mln by US regulators in latest texting probe

U.S. regulators has fined nine Wall Street companies, including Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas and Société Générale $549 million over employees' use of personal messaging apps to discuss deals, trades and other business. 

Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, SocGen, the Bank of Montreal, boutique brokers Wedbush Securities, Moelis & Company, and Houlihan Lokey, and Japanese brokers Mizuho and SMBC Nikko Securities have now agreed to pay a combined $289 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The regulator said in a separate statement that Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, SocGen, BMO, and Wedbush will pay a further $260 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for similar violations.  

The penalties mark the latest wave of a sweeping two-year enforcement probe targeting Wall Street's use of so-called "off channel" work communications such as text and WhatsApp messages in breach of rules which require firms to retain certain work-related communications. 

All nine firms admitted that from at least 2019 their employees often communicated on personal devices using iMessage, WhatsApp and Signal. The regulator said that this was a "pervasive and longstanding" violation of its record-keeping rules. 

Spokespeople for Wells Fargo, which agreed to pay $200 million in penalties to the SEC and CFTC, and Bank of Montreal, which agreed to pay $60 million, told Reuters that the firms are pleased to have resolved the matter.  

Since late 2021, the SEC and CFTC have been probing broker dealers over the record-keeping failures. JPMorgan Chase and Co, Barclays, Bank of America and others have shelled out more than $2 billion in related fines.