As financial firms adopt more digital tools – from instant messaging to video calls – the challenge of capturing, storing and monitoring every conversation in line with regulatory expectations for comms has grown exponentially.

With regulators demanding stricter oversight of all business comms, financial firms must now rethink how they manage messaging across every level of the organisation. Unifiesd Communications (UC) software can help financial service providers remain compliant.

A recent Theta Lake survey revealed that over 70 firms were fined in 2024 for failing to comply with communications regulations. What is more, almost two-thirds of financial firms anticipate even more regulatory requirements on communications in the coming years.

Consequences of Non-Compliance

While fines for failure to comply with comms regulations are more prevalent in the US, there have been several cases affecting financial services firms in the UK.

In August 2023, Morgan Stanley was fined £5.4 million by Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator, after the bank’s traders discussed wholesale energy prices over WhatsApp on private devices. Use of the platform does not meet regulatory standards for data retention and monitoring, as financial service providers are unable to record these messages concerning energy trading.

Despite industry speculation, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has chosen not to implement an outright ban on WhatsApp for business use. Instead, the FCA expects firms to implement policies and monitoring tools to ensure compliance when using such platforms. While this provides some flexibility, it puts the onus on firms to maintain secure and auditable communication records across emerging technologies.

Balancing security and convenience

For financial businesses, the challenge lies in finding a comms solution that is both secure and convenient. WhatsApp appeals to many due to its familiarity and features like group chats, voice calls and file sharing. However, while convenient, it presents serious risks in data privacy, security and compliance, making it unsuitable as a primary communication platform for highly regulated industries like finance.

To address these concerns, many firms are turning to UC platforms that integrate multiple communication tools. These include voice, video, instant messaging and file sharing across a single, secure interface. These platforms provide the convenience of more familiar tools such as WhatsApp while addressing compliance concerns.

Several UC providers now offer platforms tailored to highly regulated industries like finance. Many include security features such as end-to-end encryption, centralised access management and real-time monitoring. This can detect potential compliance breaches, offer built-in archiving for regulatory adherence and consent management to meet data protection requirements.

Digital business communications will continue to play a key role in the financial services sector, but not at the expense of traceability and data security. Unified Communications offers a secure, compliant platform for financial services without sacrificing convenience.    

If your organisation is reassessing its communications strategy in light of evolving compliance demands, Crystaline can provide guidance on navigating the shift to unified communications.