The new policy marks the latest sign of heightened government scrutiny over the use such platforms, including short-term messaging.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INDICTS EIGHT ABORTION CLINIC PROTESTERS FOR FACE ACT VIOLATIONS
Kenneth Polite Jr., from the criminal division at the U.S. Department of Justice, speaks during a news conference on Jan. 18, 2023. Polite will announce how prosecutors will examine company policies for off-channel work communications. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Since 2021, firms across Wall Street have been embroiled in investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a civil regulator, over whether employees' use of such channels for discussing deals and other work-related communications have broken record-keeping rules.
Those probes have led to hefty penalties for firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co , Barclays, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. The agency has more recently opened similar probes into other firms including BlackRock Inc.
Polite will also discuss details of a new Justice Department policy aimed at getting companies to tie compensation and bonuses to compliance.
He and other officials have been rolling out a series of new policies aimed at tackling corporate crime and encouraging companies to be more proactive in reporting misconduct to the government.