More Bang for the Records Management Buck
Many brokerages remain uncertain and unaware of the implications of a changing regulatory and compliance landscape. Nevertheless, a long-term, integrated approach to compliance can reduce costs--and regulatory hassles. Compliance technology vendors are beginning to address this problem with integrated suites of offerings to replace the point solutions now prevalent on Wall Street.Just keeping up with new regulations is a challenge in itself. They might be initiated by legislative action at the state or federal level. The self-regulatory organizations (SROs) have their rules. They and the industry at large fall under Securities and Exchange Commission dictates. The courts also set guidelines with recent revisions pertaining to e-discovery in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which can have a substantial impact on outcomes of lawsuits filed against brokerages.
Last December, FRCP revisions mandated a slew of requirements for corporations to ensure their records are managed properly. Routine forms of electronic communication are now considered corporate records and must be retained and made available if called upon in the event of litigation. For example, every e-mail is now considered a document and cannot be destroyed without adhering to a formal policy managing the retention and destruction of records. "Furthermore, if there is litigation, parties must demonstrate they have such a policy in place at pre-discovery meetings," said Tom Utiger, CEO of Data Empowerment Group, an enterprise content management provider in Henderson, Nev.
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