Deutsche Bank faces millions in US fines over WhatsApp use

Deutsche Bank and other big banks on Wall Street, such as JPMorgan and Bank of America, are said to be paying heavy fines for using the messenger WhatsApp and private email accounts for business purposes. Handelsblatt and the Wall Street Journal report that they are already in talks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and derivatives regulator. In total, the fine is one billion US dollars.

So each company has to pay USD 200 million, which was mutually agreed upon. The deal should be officially announced by the end of September. Deutsche Bank declined to comment to Handelsblatt, and they tried to contact US authorities over the weekend but received no information.

Balance and Waiver of Board Members’ Remuneration

However, Deutsche Bank reportedly set aside 165 million euros for “litigation with supervisory authorities” in the second quarter. In addition, the bank’s ten executive members must forfeit EUR 75,000 each of their differential remuneration due to misconduct. Handelsblatt reports.

Two years ago, Deutsche Bank announced plans to integrate WhatsApp with its own communications software, Symphony. Transfer, account balance inquiry and more can be easily done through chat. Initially, it is about communication with employees. It said messages are end-to-end encrypted, but conversations are being recorded by the bank as this is a legal requirement.

However, WhatsApp allows you to delete messages one after the other. Therefore, the Ambassador did not meet the requirements of the US authorities. There are also concerns about potential security gaps due to insufficient separation between personal and business applications and devices.

(emw)