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ARTICLE · 24 JANUARY 2025

"Under The Wire" E-Comms Settlements: More Confusion Than Closure

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On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled enforcement actions with five registered investment advisers for failing to maintain and preserve...

United StatesCorporate/Commercial Law
Peter I. Altman
Peter I. Altman
Michael Asaro
Michael Asaro
Anne M. Evans
Anne M. Evans
Katherine Rachel Goldstein
Katherine Rachel Goldstein
Brian T. Daly
Brian T. Daly
Jason M. Daniel
Jason M. Daniel
Barbara Niederkofler
Barbara Niederkofler
Nikolay Balayan
Nikolay Balayan
Brian P. Rafferty
Brian P. Rafferty
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On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled enforcement actions with five registered investment advisers for failing to maintain and preserve internal electronic communications. These nine settlements (two settlements covered groups of affiliated advisers) represent an inflection point in the SEC Enforcement Division's long-running effort to police retention practices for text, WhatsApp and other platforms that operate away from firm-maintained systems – so-called "off channel communications" – across the funds industry.

Background

In October 2022, financial media outlets reported that the SEC Enforcement Division had opened investigations into how large fund managers were handling electronic communications retention; these probes followed a first wave of enforcement settlements with large banks and broker-dealers for similar compliance failures under a number of specific requirements promulgated under the Securities

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