©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in Washington, DC, U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) – US Bank NA and Oppenheimer & Co have agreed to pay fines to settle U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges over the use of unapproved communications channels, the regulator said on Tuesday.
US Bank will pay $6 million to settle charges of violating CFTC recordkeeping requirements for swap dealers, and Oppenheimer & Co will pay $1 million for violations of similar requirements for introducing brokers, the company said. CFTC in a note.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US Bank and Oppenheimer are the latest of dozens to be hit with CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission sanctions over employees’ widespread use of personal devices and apps like WhatsApp for work communications. The CFTC alone imposed $1.1 billion in civil penalties on 22 institutions for related violations, it said in a statement.
The CFTC found that since at least 2019, US Bank and Oppenheimer have failed to prevent employees, even senior employees, from sending messages via personal text messages and other unapproved communication methods.