The SEC is snooping on the alternative-investment industry’s use of WhatsApp
Paul J. Davies is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering banking and finance. Previously, he was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images North AmericaGary Gensler is much more curious about what private equity and hedge fund chiefs are texting to each other and their clients than he was about bankers. The chair of the Securities and Exchanges Commission has asked staffers to pore over thousands of messages collected from investment firms as part of its probe into industry use of WhatsApp and other non-official messaging channels, according to Reuters.
Big investment banks have already been collectively hit with about $2.5 billion in fines for poor record-keeping over employees’ use of texts to discuss business. But banks were allowed to mark their own homework, and the SEC reviewed only a sample of messages to keep them honest.
Up Next
Gensler Reminds Hedge Funds He's Still Sheriff of Wall Street