Many financial organizations enable their workers and agents to communicate with one another using text messaging. This is because texting and instant messaging applications are proving to be more productive in the workplace. While it is efficient, entities must still ensure that their employees communicate in a legal manner. Otherwise, the company can get into serious trouble.
Corporate texting and the usage of instant messaging applications like WeChat and WhatsApp are regulated by the government and are subject to enforcement. This means that all text messages and other electronic communications used for business must be preserved and available for supervision if necessary.
This is according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and other regulatory provisions. These rules require regulated firms to keep track of their mobile texts and monitor any phone conversations that are utilized for commercial purposes.
Courts can mandate the production of messages used for business communication during e-discovery or litigation. Because such text messages are deemed significant information, institutions must examine how to store and reproduce them, including those received via instant messaging applications like WeChat and WhatsApp. Failure to keep track of and preserve these messages, as well as to produce them when courts request it, can put them in a serious predicament.
FINRA takes its compliance standards very strictly and has fined a number of financial institutions for violating text archiving regulations. Noncompliance isn’t always punished with penalties; the agency has also taken more severe sanctions, including barring businesses from interacting with any FINRA member.
The financial industry can benefit greatly from using solutions like Telemessage. This technology helps organizations be compliant and have mechanisms to capture MiFID voice recording and mobile messages. It can provide them with a WeChat risk assessment, as well as security, scalability, and flexibility.
Here is an infographic from Telemessage to learn more about mobile message archiving solutions.
