Morgan Stanley is hitting bankers with fines of up to and above $1 million for conducting official business over messaging platforms including WhatsApp.

Sources told the Financial Times that the fines are based on a points system which takes into account the banker’s seniority, the number of messages sent, and whether they have previously been warned for their conduct.

Depending on the size of the penalty, the funds have either been “clawed back from previous bonuses or docked from future pay”.

News of the fines follow a major breach in 2020 when two senior employees in Morgan Stanley’s commodity division were fired for using personal messaging systems, which triggered a $200 million fine for the bank in 2022.

In 2021, the Security and Exchange Commision (SEC) began contacting multiple banks to check whether they had been adequately documenting employees' work-related communications.

At the time, the SEC's head of enforcement Gurbir Grewal warned that institutions should stay on top of the many "issues raised by the increased use of personal devices, new communications channels, and other technological developments”.

The news comes six weeks after reports revealed that the bank would be cutting around two per cent of its workforce. Roughly 1,600 people have lost their jobs as a result of the move.

Share Story: