Tech

Explainer: why is Wall Street being punished for using WhatsApp?

Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley are among the big players fined over $2 billion. But why are they being penalised?

Finance firms are required to monitor and save any communications involving their business. However, investigations have shown that they have consistently failed to do this with regard to private messaging apps. Picture: Getty

What’s going on?

In one of the biggest crackdowns seen on Wall Street over the last decade, some of the world’s biggest banks have been fined over their traders’ use of encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal

How big are the fines?

In the latest round, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), issued fines totalling $549 million.

Overall, charges of over $2 billion have been levied since investigations ...