Financial Services and Global Regulatory Requirements: Balancing the ease of electronic-communications usage with regulatory expectations
Abstract
Rapid technology developments over the last twenty years have significantly limited the foundational principle that financial regulators should have the ability to monitor and enforce compliance with market rules. This is due to employees’ adoption of personal communications methods that are not covered by monitoring programs (typically voice calls, chat and email). While the technology available to compliance teams also evolved, the adoption rate for controls is slower than with communications technology. The SEC and CFTC’s focus on wall street firms that tolerate such unapproved communications create new risks to firms that fail to rein in these practices amongst their employees.