After Years Of Fines, Why Do Firms Still Get Messaging Wrong?

InnovationAfter Years Of Fines, Why Do Firms Still Get Messaging Wrong?ByDima Gutzeit,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 10, 2026, 07:45am EDTDima Gutzeit is the Founder and CEO of LeapXpert, a leader in digital communications governance serving enterprises across 45+ countries. gettyEvery enterprise has a version of the same communication problem. The official policy says one thing. The business often does another.A client sends a WhatsApp message because it is faster. A relationship manager replies because serving the client immediately feels more important than moving the conversation into an approved channel. A group chat appears because a decision needs to move quickly. A private thread continues because everyone involved already knows where to find it.In the heat of the moment, it just looks like work is getting done. The problem shows up later, when someone asks for the record and the company realizes the conversation sits in a personal app, on an employee’s phone, outside the systems meant to protect it.If a company cannot account for important conversations, people start to question what else it cannot see.The Warnings Are Already ThereFinancial firms have already had years of warnings. In 2022, the SEC charged 16 Wall Street firms with widespread recordkeeping failures after finding “pervasive” off-channel communications. The firms agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion in combined penalties. In January 2025, another 12 firms agreed to pay more than $63 million after SEC investigations again found the use of unapproved communication methods.The FCA’s recent review of 11 wholesale banks shows why the issue keeps resurfacing. Every firm had improved its approach, yet most still recorded breaches of internal policy. Eight firms reported 178 breaches over the previous 12 months, and 41% involved peop...