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13 October 2023 / Paul Schwartfeger
Issue: 8044 / Categories: Features , Technology
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What’s up with WhatsApp?

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The Morgan Stanley fine shows why good tech lawyers take a broad approach, explains Paul Schwartfeger
  • Too much tech specialism, particularly at an early stage, can be counter-productive to resolving the client’s issue.
  • Shows the complex range of issues tech lawyers might navigate when advising clients on compliance.
  • Illustrates why a broad approach works best.

Morgan Stanley’s fine for failing to record energy traders’ messages not only shows how Ofgem’s reach extends beyond energy companies, but also serves as a useful frame for thinking about the risks of ‘tech blinkers’ when it comes to matters of tech law.

Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, fined investment bank Morgan Stanley & Co International plc £5.4m last month for breaching regulations aimed at preventing insider dealing and market abuse in wholesale energy markets. The regulator found the bank breached reg 8 of the Electricity and Gas (Market Integrity and Transparency) (Enforcement etc) Regulations 2013 (2013/1389) after it failed to record messages linked to energy market transactions sent by traders via WhatsApp on their privately-owned mobile phones.

Ofgem’s action is noteworthy for several reasons.

  • It
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