Deutsche Bank bans texting and messaging apps on work phones
Deutsche Bank keen to improve compliance practices
No more texting or using messaging apps such as WhatsApp on company issued phones, Deutsche Bank tells its employees. According to a memo issued by COO Kim Hammonds and chief regulatory officer Sylvie Matherat, the functionality will be switched off this quarter, Bloomberg reports.
“We fully understand that the deactivation will change your day-to-day work and we regret any inconvenience this may cause,” Bloomberg quotes the memo.
“However, this step is necessary to ensure Deutsche Bank continues to comply with regulatory and legal requirements.”
WhatsApp, Google Talk and iMessage are among the apps listed in the memo.
The policy also applies to private phones used by Deutsche Bank staff for work purposes.
The policy is aimed at improving compliance at the bank besieged by fines and legal settlements for an array of faults, including anti-money laundering (AML) failures, sale of toxic debt, and interest rate manipulation. The bank has been slapped with $13.9 billion in fines since 2008, according to Bloomberg’s data.
It is also currently in negotiations with the US Department of Justice to settle an investigation into its sales of mortgage securities prior to the financial crisis, with a $7.2 billion agreement in principle reached at the end of 2016.
New CEO John Cryan (he took on the role in mid-2015) has made changing the bank’s culture a key pillar of its overhaul. Other key initiatives include major job cuts and investment in digital solutions.
