SEC Fines 16 Wall Street Firms $81M for Record-Keeping Failures

The fines target unapproved use of personal text messages for business, highlighting a widespread compliance issue.

The SEC fined 16 financial firms a total of $81 million for using unapproved communication methods, such as personal text messages, to conduct business.
This crackdown is part of a multi-year initiative to ensure compliance with record-keeping requirements essential for monitoring and enforcing federal securities laws.
Firms including Northwestern Mutual, Guggenheim, and Oppenheimer are among those penalized, with fines ranging from $1.25 million to $16.5 million.
The investigations revealed pervasive and longstanding use of off-channel communications for business-related discussions.
The firms have admitted to the charges and have begun improving their compliance policies and procedures.