Personal Devices and Messaging Platforms in the Workplace: Tips, Tactics and Best Practices for In-House Counsel

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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 sanctions. In 2022 alone, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged 15 broker dealers and one affiliated investment advisor with widespread and longstanding failures by employees to maintain and preserve their communications from 2018 to 2021. In August 2023, both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission hit another 11 brokerage firms for a total of $550 million in fines, and one month later the SEC fined five more broker dealers with combined penalties of $79 million.