Besoin gênant des services financiers pour l'archivage WhatsApp (Harriet Christie)

En septembre 2022, la Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) et la Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) ont conclu des règlements totalisant environ 1.8 milliard de dollars avec

12 des principales banques d'investissement de Wall Street. The prominent institutions, which included Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, were penalized for failing to monitor employees’ use of unauthorized messaging apps, like Whatsapp, with
colleagues and clients. 

The probe followed on from JP Morgan’s $200 million fine in December 2021, with the floodgates apparently opening. Authorities seem to have used that initial $200 million settlement figure as a yardstick for the industry, signifying the end of an unofficial
grace period afforded firms adapting to the pandemic.  

Such monumental penalties have of course had a seismic impact on the financial services landscape, with the repercussions reaching far beyond the behemoths evidently being made an example of. But how did we get to this stage, and how can firms address the
employee behaviors which are clearly no longer going to be tolerated?

Quoi de neuf avec WhatsApp? 

Les mandats de la SEC that banks maintain records of all communication between clients and brokers. Private exchanges, like those occurring through WhatsApp,
are far more difficult to monitor, and the likelihood of data being compromised only increases as personal devices are introduced to the equation. 

It’s important to note that the issue here is not with WhatsApp itself; the same concerns apply with WeChat, Telegram, and other ‘ephemeral’ messaging apps. It is the difficulties in documenting communications on these encrypted platforms, and the subsequent
contravention of record-keeping requirements, that is problematic. 

Fatigue des appels téléphoniques 

Until relatively recently, consumers had limited options available to them if they wanted to reach out to a regulated firm. To discuss their bank account, for instance, they’d need to either get on the phone or head over to their local branch for a personal
discussion. Now, they are able to communicate with the organization through a multitude of digital channels. 

Ce n'est pas seulement une option, mais une préférence. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger et Telegram figuraient parmi les

applications les plus téléchargées au premier trimestre 1, et WhatsApp lui-même a un impact astronomique
2 milliard d'utilisateurs actifs mondial. Selon
Forbes, 93 % des consommateurs américains souhaitent communiquer par SMS, la rapidité, la facilité d'utilisation et la familiarité (du consommateur) avec les plateformes constituant des avantages décisifs.  

Cela fonctionne dans les deux sens ; il est également plus facile et plus efficace pour les employés de communiquer via des outils qu'ils connaissent bien dans leur vie de tous les jours, plutôt que ceux fournis par leur employeur. 

Canaux distants 

Les perturbations provoquées par la pandémie de Covid-19 ont conduit à un recours bien plus important aux applications de messagerie, la proximité physique étant interdite, même avec les collègues. En 2019, 68.1 millions d’utilisateurs de téléphones mobiles aux États-Unis ont accédé à WhatsApp pour communiquer. Ce chiffre devrait

atteindre 85.8 millions d'utilisateurs en 2023. Cette dépendance à l’égard des nouveaux canaux numériques a eu pour conséquence une augmentation du nombre de travailleurs utilisant

téléphones ou tablettes personnels pour les affaires, alors que les frontières commençaient à s'estomper et que les vies professionnelle et personnelle s'entremêlaient. 

Employees are more likely to act casually when working remotely, whether that means taking longer breaks or messaging clients or colleagues through an unauthorized channel. Having allowed these communication habits to set in over a sustained period, they’re
now very difficult to shift back to a pre-Covid level, given the inherent convenience and usability that employees have become accustomed to. 

Payer la facture 

JP Morgan
Amende de 200 millions de dollars en décembre 2021, c'était la première sanction significative dans le cadre d'une enquête qui a également touché la douzaine de grandes banques d'investissement susmentionnées à hauteur de 1.8 milliard de dollars. Depuis lors, la répression exercée par la SEC a continué à s'étendre, tandis que les dirigeants de Wall Street

géants du capital-investissement ont révélé qu'ils faisaient l'objet d'une enquête.  

L'unité de contrôle a également lancé
demandes de renseignements about smaller Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) protocols for ‘off-channel’ business communications. RIAs are subject to the same regulations as the larger firms that were previously penalized, so while they may have been spared the ambush of
the initial investigations, they should be mindful that they’re in the regulators’ crosshairs nevertheless. 

Que faire maintenant? 

The situation leaves business leaders and compliance teams in a quandary. Should they sacrifice convenience and operational efficiency in the pursuit of compliance, banning messaging apps outright and instead relying on the tried and tested solutions of
email, phone calls and, to a lesser extent, social media? 

Il s’agit probablement d’une option tentante compte tenu de l’énormité des sanctions imposées. Il s’agit certainement de l’approche la plus populaire étant donné qu’en juillet 2022, seulement

15 % des sociétés financières surveillaient WhatsApp. 

But it’s not quite that simple. Banning employees from using particular channels doesn’t necessarily mean that all risks are eliminated. The prohibition of helpful tools will probably lead to disgruntled employees and “compliance gaps” in the workplace.
The safer option is for business leaders to understand the platforms that employees and consumers prefer to use, then developing suitable policies accordingly.  

Ultimately, if employees want to use unauthorized apps, they will do so, unless a supervisory procedure is in place to police it correctly. This has had immense repercussions for the likes of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America et al, who have not succeeded with
this step, despite their resources.  

WhatsApp peut-il être surveillé ? 

L'option préférable ici est certainement de permettre au personnel d'utiliser les plates-formes avec lesquelles il est le plus à l'aise, en minimisant les limitations autant que possible.  

To achieve compliance on encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, business leaders must ensure they can capture, preserve, and monitor conversations. This is easier said than done, and the process has historically been a source of great difficulty. However, in
recent years, new solutions have been developed specifically to tackle this emerging necessity.  

Much as they had previously for social media platforms, leading digital archiving vendors have built the technology to capture and archive communications data from apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, Signal and Telegram. This rescues business leaders from the frustration
of having to choose between efficiency and compliance; both can now co-exist very peacefully. 

Crucially, firms can also allocate secondary numbers on personal devices, allowing employees to differentiate between business and non-work-related contacts, and capture pertinent data accordingly. This means that privacy can also be maintained despite heightened
levels of professional scrutiny. 

Il serait contre-intuitif d’ignorer la demande croissante d’applications de messagerie cryptée sur le lieu de travail. Heureusement, les entreprises n’y sont plus obligées.