U.S. securities regulators have imposed nearly $2 billion in fines on more than a dozen financial firms, including eight major Wall Street banks, for failing to police employees who routinely used messaging apps and other "off-channel" services on personal phones to communicate business matters.
Over the last year, Senate Banking Committee Republicans transformed the opaque standards and inconsistent timelines for master account applications into a political flashpoint.
Regulators are poised to extract about $1 billion in fines from the five biggest U.S. investment banks for failing to monitor employees using unauthorized messaging apps.