Banks to Pay $1.1 Billion in Fines to Settle SEC WhatsApp Probe

Banking giants including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay regulators $1.1 billion in penalties for failing to monitor employees using unauthorized messaging apps.

The banks, along with Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley, are among the 16 financial firms that reached agreements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulator said in a statement Tuesday.

Finance firms are required to closely monitor staffers’ communications to limit improper conduct. That system, already challenged by the proliferation of mobile-messaging software including WhatsApp, was strained as financial firms sent workers home shortly after the start of the ...