As the landscape of communication continues to evolve in our increasingly digital world, the financial services industry is feeling the pinch of regulatory scrutiny. In recent years, financial firms have faced nearly $2 billion in penalties from the SEC and CFTC due to unregulated “off-channel” messaging. This surge in “off-channel” communication, including usage of platforms such as WhatsApp, WeChat, SMS, LINE, and mobile calls, is largely fueled by the rise of hybrid work. Yet, regulators maintain that all business communications must be monitored, auditable, and occur only within official channels. In the words of SEC Chair Gary Gensler, “As technology changes, it’s even more important that registrants appropriately conduct their communications about business matters within only official channels. And they must maintain and preserve those communications.”
Caught in this position, financial firms are seeking solutions that facilitate modern communication without compromising regulatory compliance. That’s where Symphony’s Federation solution enters the picture.
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Symphony’s Federation solution is designed to meet clients where they are, enabling seamless communication on preferred platforms while keeping compliance in check. We understand that compelling clients to switch communication platforms adds unnecessary friction to the business relationship. Our aim is to eliminate this friction by fostering seamless connectivity without sacrificing regulatory oversight.
In a year marked by an increasingly remote and globally distributed workforce, we have observed a 103% increase in monthly external active users on Symphony. We anticipate this trend to grow with our latest features, including the maintaining of business-only phone numbers, powered by Umony and subject to geographical availability, accessible through Symphony and seamless inbound onboarding of new contacts. These innovative solutions respect individual privacy, enable seamless workflows, and maintain firm compliance, regardless of device, channel, or network.
Federation extends beyond compliance, acting as a security layer between Symphony and external channels, providing compliance-enabling communication across public networks. This functionality enables financial professionals to leverage familiar tools and make timely decisions, particularly crucial for time-sensitive workflows, conversations, or engagements with high-net worth clients. The bonus: there’s no need for additional steps for automatic recording and archiving. Symphony captures messages and shared files, and integrates with retention archives to help ensure compliance boxes are adequately ticked.
Symphony recognizes the critical role of third-party electronic messaging platforms in today’s fast-moving financial workflows. Our technology integrates seamlessly into this evolving business communication landscape, reducing friction, minimizing context switching, and enabling compliance. This integration offers considerable advantages to both end-users and compliance departments.
For brokers, asset managers, and other financial services professionals, Symphony introduces newfound flexibility in communication. In the words of IG Markets’ Premium Client Manager Luke Moore, “It’s been nothing but game changing.” Meanwhile, compliance departments breathe easier, knowing the risk of unrecorded communication is significantly reduced. This combination of regulatory security and operational efficiency makes Symphony an indispensable asset in modern financial communication.
With increasing regulatory focus on electronic messaging platforms, Symphony’s Federation capabilities offer a robust solution for propelling the financial services industry into the future. Our technology empowers clients to adapt to the evolution of business communication while meeting regulatory expectations, as highlighted by SEC Chair Gensler.
Symphony fosters privacy, connectivity, flexibility, security, and compliance, aiding in the modernization of financial markets. With us, you can confidently navigate the evolving landscape of financial communication and focus on what truly matters: making informed decisions.
In the end, isn’t that the purpose of business communication?
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In 2024, Symphony celebrated 10 years of supporting financial services firms drive innovation, efficiency and security as it evolved into a communications and markets technology firm. With interconnected platforms for messaging, voice, directory and analytics, and a growing community of 1,300+ institutions and 600,000+ users around the world, Symphony has established itself as the most valued financial services community.
