Banking giants like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America collectively face more than $1 billion (about Rs 8,000 crore) in regulatory fines for employees’ use of disapproved messaging tools, including email and apps like WhatsApp.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began investigating banks’ record-keeping practices related to their use of personal instruments last year, Reuters reported at the time, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also reported the issue. Investigating, show bank disclosures.
Here is a list of fines already paid or expected to be paid by financial firms, as per recent disclosures:
JPMorgan Chase
The broker-dealer subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase was fined $200 million (about Rs 1,600 crore) last year by the SEC and CFTC for widespread failures to protect employees’ communications on personal mobile devices, messaging apps and email . JPMorgan acknowledged that its conduct violated securities laws. The penalty was one of the first major enforcement actions brought about under SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $125 million (about Rs 1,000 crore) to the SEC and $75 million (about Rs 600 crore) to the CFTC to resolve investigations into its record-keeping practices, it said in July. went. It has already set aside $200 million (about Rs 1,600 crore) in its second quarter earnings to prepare for the fine.
bank of america
Bank of America has set aside about $200 million (about Rs 1,600 crore) for litigation related to unauthorized electronic messaging by its employees in the second quarter. The bank said in late July that it was in negotiations with the SEC and CFTC.
Citigroup
The company disclosed in a regulatory filing in February that Citi was being investigated by the SEC for communications on unapproved channels used by its employees.
Chief financial officer Mark Mason said during its second-quarter earnings call in July that the company has set aside reserves to deal with the issue. He did not specify an amount, but said it was aligned with what peer companies had disclosed.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is in “advanced discussions” with the SEC and CFTC to resolve the investigation, it said in its second-quarter filing.
barclays
British bank Barclays said it has reached an in-principle agreement to pay US regulators $200 million (about Rs 1,600 crore), the company said in its half-yearly earnings in July.
Credit Suisse Group AG
Credit Suisse said in July that it had booked a $200 million litigation provision primarily related to record-keeping rules.
Deutsche Bank AG
Deutsche Bank announced in late July that it had set aside 165 million euros in additional provisions from the SEC and CFTC investigations, to some extent, for possible regulatory enforcement.
UBS Group AG
UBS Group said US regulators are investigating banks and other financial institutions related to business communications.
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