The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against 16 financial companies for failing to properly maintain and maintain electronic communications, with the companies agreeing to pay a total of more than $81 million in civil penalties.
The regulator said employees of these companies use “off-channel” communications, such as personal text messaging services, to discuss customers and business transactions, rather than on official company platforms.
“Today's actions against these 16 companies are the result of our ongoing efforts to ensure all regulated entities comply with recordkeeping requirements, which are essential to our ability to monitor and enforce compliance with the federal securities laws,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the Federal Securities Exchange. The SEC's Enforcement Division said in a statement.
Companies subject to the fine include:
-
USB from Bancorp,
-0.76%
Investment subsidiary: US Bancorp. Investments Inc. -
Oppenheimer & Company
-
Three entities combined northwest
-
Guggenheim Securities and Guggenheim Partners Investment Management LLC
-
Cambridge Investment Research Inc. and Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.
-
Two KeyCorp keys,
-0.10%
Affiliates: Key Investment Services LLC and KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. -
Two Lincoln National Corporation LNC,
-2.65%
Subsidiaries: Lincoln Financial Advisors and Lincoln Financial Securities. -
Three Huntington Bank HBAN,
+0.81%
Subsidiaries: Huntington Investments, Inc., Huntington Securities, Inc. and Capstone Capital Markets LLC
Grewal noted that Huntington's smaller penalty of $1.25 million “reflects her voluntary self-determination and cooperation.”
The action is part of a multi-year effort by the SEC to prevent financial companies from making communications through channels not reserved in traditional record-keeping, which began with a $125 million fine against JPMorgan Securities JPM.
in 2021. The agency views recordkeeping as a vital tool in its mission to enforce securities laws.
