SEC Looking Into Money Managers’ Use of Outside Messaging Apps

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether asset managers used WhatsApp and other outside messaging apps to conduct official business, ratcheting up its probe into Wall Street’s record-keeping practices.

The regulator has recently sent letters to investment firms requesting information on their employees’ communications practices, according to three people familiar with the matter. Dozens of firms have received the queries into which devices and apps they allow for official communications, said one of the people who, like the others, asked not to be identified discussing the matter due to its sensitivity. The SEC, which declined to comment, ...