Texting brokers and investment advisors have landed their employers in trouble yet again as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined ten financial firms over long-standing recordkeeping violations.

Interactive Brokers (IBKR), Robert W. Baird & Co., Nuveen Securities, William Blair & Company, and Fifth Third Securities (FITB) were among the firms charged for "widespread and longstanding failures to maintain and preserve electronic communications."

The companies agreed to pay a collective fine of $79 million and adjust their compliance policies to meet the recordkeeping provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, according to a statement from the SEC.

The SEC added that its investigations, dating back to 2019, found "pervasive and longstanding off-channel communications" at the ten firms. Employees at the firms communicated via private text messages about business matters. While the accused firms said their employees sent and received off-channel communications in relation to investment advice, the regulators said the companies violated securities laws by not preserving a large majority of the communications.

The latest SEC enforcement follows a similar action against eleven Wall Street firms in August, which brought collective fines of $549 million.

Firms Fined by the SEC

• Interactive Brokers Corp.: $35 million.
• Robert W. Baird & Co.: $15 million.
• William Blair & Company LLC: $10 million.
• Nuveen Securities LLC: $8.5 million penalty.
• Fifth Third Securities Inc.: $8 million.
• Perella Weinberg Partners LP: $2.5 million.