SEC obtains Wall Street firms’ private chats in probe of WhatsApp, Signal use

Enlarge / A woman walks past a WhatsApp logo during a Meta event in Mumbai, India in September 2023. (credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto )

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has "collected thousands of staff messages from more than a dozen major investment companies" as it expands a probe into how employees and executives at Wall Street firms use private messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Signal, Reuters reported today, citing "four people with direct knowledge of the matter."

Firms being investigated include Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management, KKR & Co., TPG, Blackstone, and hedge fund companies including Citadel, Reuters wrote. Senior executives are among the employees whose messages were reportedly collected.

"The executives gave their personal phones and other devices to their employers or lawyers to be copied, and messages discussing business have been handed to the SEC, three people said," according to Reuters.