SEC Fines Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, And Others In Texting Crackdown

Affiliates of Blackstone Inc., KKR & Co., Apollo Global Management Inc., and Charles Schwab Corp. are among a dozen investment advisers and brokerages penalized for failing to monitor employees' use of unauthorized communication platforms.

Nine investment advisers and three broker-dealers admitted to violating record-keeping regulations and pledged to improve compliance. I Photo: Apollo Global Management Inc.

Collectively, they will pay over $63 million, Bloomberg News reported.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the settlements as part of its ongoing crackdown on Wall Street’s unmonitored use of messaging apps and texts for business communication.

Nine investment advisers and three broker-dealers admitted to violating record-keeping regulations and pledged to improve compliance. Violations spanned various levels of personnel, including senior managers, the SEC said.

“When firms fall short of these obligations, the consequences go far beyond deficient document productions,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, the SEC’s acting enforcement director.

“Such failures affect the transparency and integrity of the markets and their participants.”

Among the penalties, three Blackstone affiliates agreed to pay $12 million in total, a KKR unit $11 million, a Schwab broker-dealer $10 million, and an Apollo subsidiary $8.5 million.

Other sanctioned entities include affiliates of Carlyle Group Inc., TPG Inc., and Banco Santander SA. PJT Partners received the smallest penalty of $600,000, credited for self-reporting its lapses.