Wall Street faces US$400M fine for using WhatsApp for work.
Do you have a cool Gen-Z/X boss that just hates email? Well the SEC might be after them for using private messaging in work communication.
The Rizz
WhatsApp has grown into a useful channel of communication across the globe, well most of the globe. With exception of Asian countries such as China & North Korea, it is a widely used day to day platform essentially taking over generic texting for most android users. Well The SEC isn’t too happy about that! And they’ve put the gloves on.
The Stats
Here are the 26 firms paying US$400M in fines this year (2024) as according to the SEC press release yesterday :
Company
Fine (US$)
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC
50M
Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P.
50M
LPL Financial LLC
50M
Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
50M
RBC Capital Markets, LLC
45M
BNY Mellon Securities Corporation, together with Pershing LLC,
40M
TD Securities (USA) LLC, together with TD Private Client Wealth LLC and Epoch Investment Partners, Inc.,
30M
Osaic Services, Inc., together with Osaic Wealth, Inc.,
18M
Cowen and Company, LLC, together with Cowen Investment Management LLC,
16.5M
Piper Sandler & Co.
14M
First Trust Portfolios L.P.
8M
Apex Clearing Corporation
6M
Truist Securities, Inc., Truist Investment Services, Inc. and Truist Advisory Services, Inc.,
5.5M
Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC,
4.5M
Great Point Capital, LLC
2M
Hilltop Securities Inc., which self-reported,
1.6M
P. Schoenfeld Asset Management LP
1.25M
Haitong International Securities (USA) Inc.
0.4M
The Gist
It’s not the first time firms have been fined on this seemingly this bizarre account. Infact in 2022, the list included household names Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.
The firms in the latest list have already agreed to pay the fines as they violate the SEC orders on recordkeeping under federal security law. The aforementioned firms violated either one or both of the following acts : The Securities Act and the Investment Advisers Act.
