Enterprise Chat Monitoring That Meets FINMA Standards

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) maintains some of the strictest rules in the world when it comes to communication oversight. Financial institutions operating in Switzerland must ensure that all electronic communications – including instant messaging, collaboration tools, and mobile chat platforms – are captured, archived, and made auditable. This requirement has grown in urgency as regulators intensify scrutiny on unmonitored messaging channels such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. For firms, the challenge is not just about compliance but about implementing enterprise chat monitoring that meets FINMA standards without disrupting employee workflows.

At its core, FINMA requires that supervised institutions have clear audit trails for all client interactions. This means conversations over chat cannot remain ephemeral. Whether an employee communicates through WhatsApp, iMessage, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or encrypted messaging platforms, those records must be captured in a way that ensures data integrity and long-term accessibility. Failure to comply can lead to fines, reputational damage, and, in severe cases, restrictions on business operations. The rise in enforcement actions in the EU and US has made Swiss firms particularly alert to tightening oversight.

Modern chat monitoring solutions must therefore strike a balance between strict compliance and usability. Employees are unlikely to embrace clunky, outdated systems that slow them down. A FINMA-compliant solution must integrate seamlessly with existing workflows, capturing communications in the background while enabling real-time access for compliance officers. DeepView’s monitoring approach is built precisely with this in mind – ensuring FINMA-aligned data capture without adding friction to day-to-day collaboration.

A critical requirement under FINMA is ensuring that communication data cannot be tampered with once recorded. This demands immutable archives and robust access controls. Traditional email archiving methods are no longer sufficient, as chat applications often include multimedia, reactions, and threads that must all be preserved in context. Advanced enterprise monitoring platforms, such as DeepView, are designed to capture this complexity, ensuring every interaction is preserved in its original format.

Another challenge is the prevalence of “shadow IT” in financial institutions. Employees may resort to consumer messaging apps when official tools feel restrictive. FINMA expects firms to have preventative controls in place – not just reactive archiving. Enterprise chat monitoring solutions need to include proactive detection of risky behaviour, such as unauthorised channel use or attempts to move conversations outside regulated systems. Real-time alerting adds a critical layer of defence, allowing compliance teams to intervene before breaches escalate.

Swiss firms also face heightened expectations around cross-border compliance. Many operate globally and must align with both FINMA rules and those of international regulators such as the SEC, FCA, or BaFin. The ideal monitoring system therefore must provide multi-jurisdictional coverage, ensuring compliance is not siloed. DeepView, for example, supports multi-regulator requirements in a single framework, giving firms a unified approach to global compliance.

Ultimately, the question for financial institutions is not whether they should invest in enterprise chat monitoring that meets FINMA standards, but how quickly they can implement it. With regulators intensifying their scrutiny on messaging channels, firms that delay risk falling behind both in compliance and client trust. A modern monitoring platform does more than tick regulatory boxes – it enables secure, compliant, and efficient communication that supports long-term resilience.

By adopting an integrated, FINMA-compliant solution, institutions can not only avoid regulatory penalties but also enhance operational transparency. In today’s digital-first financial landscape, the firms that get compliance right are also the ones that build lasting trust with clients, employees, and regulators alike

The Legal Blindspot: iMessage Discovery and the Challenge of Litigation Holds

In an era of mobile-first communication, iMessage has become one of the most widely used platforms for both personal and professional exchanges—especially in organizations where iPhones are the default device. But while iMessage offers convenience and encryption, it also introduces significant legal risk when companies face litigation or regulatory investigations. Unlike corporate tools such as  email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams, iMessage messages are typically stored locally on personal devices and are not automatically archived or backed up in a way that aligns with corporate legal hold protocols.

This creates a serious discovery blindspot. When litigation is anticipated, companies are required to issue a litigation hold—an instruction to preserve all potentially relevant communications and documents. This includes not only emails and documents but also text messages and chats. If employees use iMessage for business purposes—even occasionally—those messages become discoverable. However, if they’re stored only on an individual’s iPhone, they are easy to delete and difficult to retrieve, especially if the employee has left the company, wiped their phone, or disabled iCloud backups.

⚖️ Legal Risk Alert: U.S. courts have repeatedly held that failure to preserve mobile messages can result in spoliation sanctions—including fines, evidence exclusion, and adverse inference rulings where the court assumes the missing messages were harmful to the company’s case.

The risk isn’t hypothetical. In recent years, high-profile cases have turned on the presence—or absence—of mobile communications. In some instances, courts have penalized companies for not having sufficient policies or tools in place to preserve iMessages. In others, opposing counsel has argued (often successfully) that deleted or missing messages point to intentional misconduct. The consequences can be severe: beyond the legal rulings, the reputational damage from appearing opaque or obstructive in court can impact shareholder trust, client confidence, and employee morale.

As mobile usage increases, legal and compliance teams are being forced to catch up. Many are now reassessing device policies, particularly in BYOD environments, to determine whether employees should be permitted to use iMessage at all for work-related discussions. Others are investing in mobile eDiscovery tools capable of capturing and preserving iMessages from employee devices—either through consent-based apps or MDM solutions that partition work data for easier compliance. Still, even the best tools can’t guarantee recovery if messages are deleted before a hold is issued, making early intervention critical.

📉 Survey Insight: According to a 2023 report by Exterro, over 59% of legal professionals said mobile messaging was their most difficult challenge during eDiscovery, with iMessage cited as the least accessible major platform.

Ultimately, the rise of iMessage as a workplace tool demands a shift in how companies think about legal readiness. Informal use of iPhones and iMessage may seem harmless day-to-day, but in the eyes of the court, all business communication is subject to the same rules—regardless of the platform. Companies that fail to proactively address the iMessage blindspot may find themselves unable to defend key decisions, verify facts, or meet preservation obligations when legal challenges arise. The solution is not just about policy—it’s about building a culture of defensible communication in a mobile-first world.

Lessons from the FCA: How the UK’s Regulator Is Cracking Down on Unapproved Messaging

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s chief financial regulator, has made it clear: firms must get serious about communication compliance. Following a string of global enforcement actions led by U.S. regulators, the FCA is now taking a more aggressive stance on unapproved messaging platforms like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Signal. In regulated industries—particularly financial services—the message is loud and clear: if it’s a business conversation, it must be recorded, regardless of platform or device.

The FCA’s concerns aren’t hypothetical. In 2023, multiple UK-based firms came under scrutiny after evidence surfaced of traders and brokers using encrypted consumer messaging apps to discuss sensitive deal terms, pricing strategies, and client interactions. In many cases, these conversations occurred on personal devices and were completely inaccessible to the firms’ compliance systems. This failure to capture and archive business communications not only violates FCA rules—it also undermines the transparency and auditability essential to fair and orderly markets.

🧾 FCA Handbook Reference: Under the SYSC 10A and COBS 11.8 sections of the FCA handbook, firms are obligated to record and retain all electronic communications related to client orders and transactions. These rules apply across all devices and platforms, not just email or recorded phone lines.

In response, the FCA issued updated guidance in mid-2023 that explicitly reminded firms of their obligations around recordkeeping, monitoring, and enforceable communication policies. The regulator made it clear that ignorance or lack of technological capability would no longer be an acceptable excuse. Several firms were issued formal warnings and required to conduct internal reviews, rewrite policies, and present clear remediation plans. Some were forced to revisit their BYOD strategies, opting instead to issue work-specific devices with restricted app access and pre-installed compliant communication tools like Symphony, Microsoft Teams, or Bloomberg Chat.

📉 Stat Insight: A survey by Bovill in late 2023 found that 41% of UK financial firms had still not implemented mobile recording capabilities across all business devices, despite increasing FCA pressure.

Unlike their U.S. counterparts, who have issued billions in fines, the FCA has so far focused more on corrective action than punitive enforcement—but that window may be closing. Sources close to the regulator suggest that enforcement actions are already ramping up behind the scenes, with penalties likely to escalate in 2025. The agency has also signaled that future audits will closely examine executive-level communication practices, not just frontline staff. That means leaders are now expected to model compliant behavior, or risk personal accountability.

The broader lesson from the FCA’s posture is this: personal messaging apps are no longer viewed as harmless conveniences—they’re treated as active compliance liabilities. As the digital workplace continues to evolve, regulated firms must respond with updated policies, real-time capture tools, and a proactive compliance culture. The days of informal exceptions, off-the-record deal chats, and “just this once” text messages are over. Firms that fail to adapt risk more than just regulatory action—they risk losing client trust, damaging reputations, and facing operational instability when key conversations disappear into unsearchable digital channels.

Billions in Fines: What Wall Street’s WhatsApp Woes Teach Every Industry

Wall Street’s ongoing reckoning over WhatsApp is a wake-up call—not just for banks, but for every regulated business. The latest multi-billion-dollar enforcement actions were less about the messaging platform itself and more about a failure to supervise. Employees used WhatsApp to conduct business without oversight, which violates rules designed to prevent fraud, ensure transparency, and enable audits.

The Department of Justice, SEC, and other regulators emphasized that organizations must capture and archive communications—regardless of platform. If a CEO gives a directive or a trader makes a deal via WhatsApp, the organization must retain that record.

The takeaway? Every company—financial or not—must continuously assess how it’s handling off-channel communication. Clear policies, mobile device management (MDM), and approved communication tools are no longer optional.

The issue isn’t merely the use of messaging apps like WhatsApp; it’s the lack of oversight and recordkeeping associated with these platforms. In September 2022, the SEC and CFTC imposed over $1.8 billion in penalties on Wall Street firms for failing to maintain and preserve electronic communications, particularly “off-channel” text messages. Investigations revealed that, between January 2018 and September 2021, employees used personal devices for business communications via apps like WhatsApp and Signal, which were not preserved as mandated by law. (Investopedia)

This enforcement wave isn’t confined to the United States. Global banking regulators, including those in the UK, France, Germany, and Hong Kong, are increasing scrutiny on the use of unauthorized messaging apps by traders. Banks are implementing various measures to avoid penalties, such as banning texts on work phones and requiring staff to submit personal devices for scrutiny. (Financial News London)

For organizations to stay ahead, they need more than policy documents—they need real operational controls. That means adopting secure, compliant messaging platforms, enforcing usage through MDM, and training staff on the risks of off-channel communication. The goal isn’t to restrict collaboration, but to modernize oversight. Companies that take proactive steps now won’t just avoid fines—they’ll be better positioned to earn trust in an era where accountability is everything.

Best Practices for Ensuring Compliance Through Effective WhatsApp Archiving

In today’s digital-first world, WhatsApp and other digital channels have become a go-to communication tool for businesses across various industries. However, for organisations requiring capture of all business communications for command control, or those operating in regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and legal services, ensuring compliance with strict record-keeping regulations is a major challenge. Regulatory bodies like the SEC, FINRA, FCA, and GDPR require businesses to archive and monitor electronic communications, including WhatsApp messages, to prevent compliance violations and maintain transparency.

To help organisations navigate these challenges, we’ve outlined key best practices for implementing an effective WhatsApp archiving strategy that ensures compliance while supporting seamless business operations.

1. Implement an Automated WhatsApp Archiving Solution

Manual record-keeping is impractical and prone to errors. Organisations should deploy an automated WhatsApp archiving solution that captures and securely stores all business-related messages, calls, images, and voice notes in real time. A robust archiving system ensures:

• Regulatory compliance with SEC, FINRA, FCA, GDPR, and MiFID II requirements.
• Searchable, tamper-proof records for audits and legal investigations.
• Efficient retrieval of communication records when needed.

2. Establish Clear Compliance Policies for WhatsApp Usage

Employees should understand the importance of compliance and the role of WhatsApp archiving. Organisations must develop and enforce policies that outline:

• Approved usage of WhatsApp for business communications.
• Guidelines for personal vs. work-related messaging.
• Prohibited activities, such as unauthorised sharing of sensitive information.
• Consequences of non-compliance.

3. Ensure Work-Personal Communication Separation

To balance compliance and employee privacy, organisations should use solutions that distinguish between personal and business communications. Options include:

• Issuing dedicated work devices with pre-installed compliance solutions.
• Using business-specific WhatsApp accounts.
• Deploying compliance tools that archive only work-related messages while excluding personal conversations.

4. Enable Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts

Compliance teams need proactive monitoring to detect potential policy violations before they escalate. AI-powered monitoring systems can:

• Flag risky conversations or unauthorised data sharing.
• Send real-time alerts to compliance officers.
• Reduce the risk of fines and reputational damage by preventing compliance breaches.

5. Ensure Secure and Scalable Storage

An effective WhatsApp archiving solution must store data securely and be scalable as regulatory requirements evolve. Organisations should look for solutions that offer:

• Encrypted storage to protect sensitive data.
• Cloud-based, scalable infrastructure for growing compliance needs.
• Easy integration with existing compliance frameworks and audit systems.

6. Conduct Regular Compliance Audits and Training

Ongoing training and audits help reinforce compliance culture and ensure employees stay updated on regulatory changes. Organisations should:

• Conduct periodic audits to identify gaps in WhatsApp archiving processes.
• Provide compliance training for employees and management.
• Update policies as regulations evolve to maintain adherence.

How DeepView Helps Organisations Achieve WhatsApp Compliance

DeepView provides a best-in-class WhatsApp archiving solution designed to meet the most stringent regulatory requirements. Our platform offers:

• Automated, real-time archiving of WhatsApp messages, calls, and media.
• Seamless integration with regulatory frameworks, ensuring compliance with SEC, FINRA, GDPR, MiFID II, and other standards.
• AI-powered monitoring to detect potential compliance risks.
• Secure, scalable storage with encrypted, tamper-proof record-keeping.
• Work-personal communication separation to maintain privacy while ensuring compliance.

Final Thoughts: Future-Proof Your Compliance Strategy

Regulators are cracking down on unmonitored WhatsApp communications, and organisations must take proactive measures to avoid costly fines and reputational damage. By following best practices for WhatsApp archiving, businesses can maintain compliance, protect sensitive data, and build trust with clients and regulators.

Ensure Compliance with DeepView

DeepView is your trusted partner for WhatsApp archiving and compliance. Contact us today to learn how our advanced solutions can safeguard your organisation’s communications and ensure regulatory adherence.