SEC WhatsApp Probe Expands to Phones of Hedge Fund Employees
- Point72 and Citadel among industry recipients of request
- Officials seeking evidence of business on unofficial platforms
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Major hedge funds have been asked by US regulators to review certain employees’ personal mobile phones as part of a mushrooming probe into Wall Street’s use of unofficial messaging platforms like WhatsApp to conduct business.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently asked Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel and several other firms to search through the devices for evidence of business dealings on unapproved channels, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing the private requests. The SEC is also probing the practices of brokerages, money managers and private equity firms.