After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, many businesses and firms of different sizes temporarily suspended their operations to prevent the virus’s spread within a few weeks.
Many people have lost their jobs; others still wait for when they return to their respective workplaces. Many are fortunate enough to continue working even at the relative safety of their homes.
While remote work seems to be the most apparent solution for resuming operations, it is not without challenges. Employers and employees alike are continuously adapting despite challenging circumstances.
In light of the significant changes in conducting day-to-day operations brought by the pandemic to the securities industries, FINRA issued a notice on the transition to remote work and remote supervision.
After a discussion with small, mid-sized, and large firms about the steps they have taken to smooth the transition to the new work settings, FINRA released a regulatory notice to share common themes about the shift to remote work and remote supervision.
Included in the notice is FINRA’s recommendations about different practices that securities firms can follow to enhance their supervisory efforts and compliance programs.
Firms are free to follow such recommendations: however, FINRA still reminded firms that they should continue implementing a reasonably designed supervisory system appropriate for their business size and model.
Among the discussions with FINRA are the challenges that they encountered with remote supervision. Fortunately, they are relatively prepared using their existing supervisory tools.
As many employees have no choice but to work at home, many use instant messaging platforms such as WeChat or WhatsApp to communicate with colleagues and employees.
It can pose various risks for firms as it is not a useful tool for voice recording compliance, text messaging compliance, and call monitoring.
Firms should consider using TeleMessage Mobile Archiverto effectively address compliance, regulatory, eDiscovery response, and other requirements for compliance. It can also capture mobile content, including whatsapp archiving.
Read this infographic from TeleMessage to learn more about the notice issued by FINRA.
