Corruption, Crime & Compliance: Electronics Communications Risks in The Era of Ephemeral Messaging
Compliant Business Communications Through Messaging Apps
M365 in 5 – Part 5: Teams Chats – Modern communications
The SEC's wave of enforcement actions concerning "off-channel" communications did not abate in 2024. In total, the SEC announced more than 70 firms agreed to pay more than a half-billion dollars combined to settle charges for...more
On December 11, 2024, the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA) hosted “Views from the Top,” featuring the following government officials from the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, and FTC discussing current and future enforcement...more
Organizations whose mantra is “We just never delete anything” (i.e., organizations simply retaining all information indefinitely) are now facing headwinds, especially when the information contains personal information. As our...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has updated their Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs policy with special attention paid to messaging platforms when detecting and investigating potential misconduct and law violations....more
The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") are updating language in document requests and compulsory process to address companies' increased use of collaboration...more
What U.K. Firms Need to Know - INTRODUCTION - Over the past decade, the use of messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, for business purposes as an alternative to traditional email has grown exponentially. Ease of use...more
Federal regulators have cracked down on the use of texts messages and messaging platforms for business communications, using their broad authority to root out record retention violations, resulting in significant fines and...more
In light of the DOJ’s most recent guidance on the use of personal devices and third-party messaging applications by corporate personnel, this White Paper addresses issues and challenges that companies are facing in this area...more
Chat applications are a fact of life now. Many employees in all sectors are using it to communicate and collaborate. The prevalence of this data type means that searching only standard document types such as emails is no...more
In an increasingly digital world, financial firms need to be mindful of the variety of electronic communication channels that their employees use for work. Even where firms require employees to use firm-managed email networks...more
Over the last several years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have been laser-focused on the use of so called “off-channel communications” in the...more
The SEC and CFTC settlements with HSBC and Scotia Capital come after years of federal regulators’ and prosecutors’ steadily increasing scrutiny of off-channel communications. Anchoring these settlements are long-standing...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released new guidance announcing several policy changes to further strengthen and clarify its approach to prosecuting corporate crime. The guidance, released through a memorandum...more
Users of ephemeral messaging applications may intend that their messages be—as the word “ephemeral” suggests—short lived, but the real-world consequences and legal ramifications from improper use of such apps can be anything...more
The SEC and CFTC recently charged 11 large financial institutions and their affiliates for failing to collect, monitor, and preserve communications over WhatsApp and other messaging services. These settlements follow a...more
Federal enforcement agencies continue to scrutinize investment advisers’ use of personal devices and messaging platforms to conduct business. Our team reviews how recent penalties should encourage companies to create internal...more
Using personal devices and messaging platforms may be convenient (and ubiquitous), but it may run afoul of federal records retention rules. Our Investment Management, Trading & Markets and White Collar, Government & Internal...more
On December 17, 2021, a financial institution agreed to pay $200 million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodities Futures Trading Commission for allowing employees to discuss business on their...more