SEC Fines 16 Firms in Latest WhatsApp Probe Penalties (1)

Sixteen financial firms agreed to pay more than $81 million in civil fines after a federal probe found their employees used personal text messages for business purposes, marking the latest round of penalties to emerge from regulators’ so-called WhatsApp investigations.

U.S. Bancorp Investments, Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, Guggenheim Securities and Oppenheimer & Co. were among firms cited in a statement Friday by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Northwestern will pay $16.5 million, the largest penalty of the group. Guggenheim, Oppenheimer and U.S. Bancorp will pay $15 million, $12 million and $8 million, respectively.

The SEC said it ...