New York State’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, on record keeping for their new messaging service, Symphony.
Symphony Communications Services, a start-up backed by fourteen of Wall Street’s major banks, has agreed to retain a copy of chat messages on the Symphony system for seven years.
Furthermore, the four banks have agreed to store duplicate copies of the decryption keys for their messages with independent custodians.
Concerns were initially raised by Acting Superintendent of Financial Services, Anthony Albanese, the use of Symphony by the banks, could hinder regulators’ and prosecutors’ ability to investigate misconduct at banks, particularly since the rate rigging scandals of LIBOR and key FX rates.
“We are pleased that these banks did the right thing by working cooperatively with us to help address our concerns about this new messaging platform,” states Albanese.
“This is a critical issue since chats and other electronic records have provided key evidence in investigations of wrongdoing on Wall Street. It is vital that regulators act to ensure that these records do not fall into a digital black hole.”
The new system is set to rival the Bloomberg messaging system, which has dominated communications between banks.
New York Regulator Agrees with Banks on Record Keeping
New York State’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, on record keeping for their new messaging service, Symphony.