Leavin’ the chat… Mega bank HSBC is disabling texting on its employees’ work phones, Bloomberg reported, after previously blocking staff from messaging on WhatsApp. Financial institutions are required to keep records of their employees’ biz messages so that regulators can pull chat logs during investigations. Failure to save messages can = regulators fining companies — and companies fining or firing employees. Earlier this year HSBC paid $45M to regulators over its employees’ use of unauthorized messaging apps like WhatsApp.
Do not disturb: WhatsApp can be set to auto-delete messages, making it more difficult for employers (and regulators) to monitor.
SM-mess: HSBC’s text ban could be seen as a precaution meant to keep all employees’ written communication in preapproved digi venues.
Emoji legislation… SEC Chair Gensler is scrutinizing Wall Street’s messaging habits as if it’s used up all the texts on his family plan. He started a probe two years ago, when bankers embraced the habit of off-channel messaging while WFH during the pandemic. Regulators found that convos on unofficial channels about deals and other biz topics were so common that one Reuters source called the ensuing sweep “shooting fish in a barrel.” They were big fish: the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Barclays, Citigroup, and others $2.7B.
Widening scope: The SEC recently started investigating the messaging records of private-equity firms including Apollo Global Management and Blackstone.
You can’t slip if you don’t go on the ice… In response to regulators’ crackdown, banks around the world are said to be barring staff from using messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal. But even monitoring messages on official channels (think: work email) can be tricky. Courts ruled this summer that emojis like 🚀 and 💰 can indicate a return on investment, but companies’ internal monitoring software may not be hip enough to understand any #nuances.