Citigroup Inc. joined the list of banks being investigated over employee communications using unauthorized messaging services.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing Citigroup Global Markets Inc. “and other firms regarding compliance with record-keeping obligations for broker-dealers and investment advisers in connection with business-related communications sent over unapproved electronic messaging channels,” the New York-based bank said in a regulatory filing Monday. “CGMI is cooperating with the investigation.”
Firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc are being probed by U.S. regulators over staffers’ communications. In December, the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission imposed $200 million in fines on JPMorgan Chase & Co., saying that even managing directors and other senior supervisors at the bank had skirted regulatory scrutiny by using services such as WhatsApp or personal email addresses for work-related communication.
Wall Street firms have been required for decades to closely monitor and save staffers’ business communications, a task that’s been complicated in recent years by the proliferation of mobile technology and messaging apps. The system was strained further as banks sent workers home at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, making it harder to see who might be using an unmonitored device.
Chicago-based Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions adds flexPATH's plan-level outsourced fiduciary book, boosting its retirement market reach to $164 billion.
Also, Raymond James's employee advisor channel adds breakaways from Wells Fargo and Stifel, while UBS welcomes an ex-Morgan Stanley duo in Indiana.
It promised guaranteed principal and 10% monthly returns. The SEC says it invested nothing.
Ten years after entering the fee-based annuity market, MassMutual Ascend says nearly half its lifetime sales came in the past two years alone – but barriers remain among fee-only advisors.
Amplify, WealthReach, Zeplyn and Zocks have unveiled partnerships aimed at automating portfolio management, content creation, account opening, and client communication.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
