Fidelity Chairman Says U.S. Regulations Lag Social Media AdvancesFidelity Chairman Says U.S. Regulations Lag Social Media Advances
Abigail Johnson called for modernization of the policies around social media data retention.
October 24, 2017
By Tim McLaughlin
BOSTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. financial regulations ondata retention do not fit with the way people expect tocommunicate on social media, Fidelity Investments ChairmanAbigail Johnson said on Tuesday.
"The real issue is a regulatory regime that doesn't fit withthe way people communicate today," said Johnson, who runs thefinancial services company that manages about $2.3 trillion inassets.
"Customers expect recommendations from Amazon, peer feedbackon Facebook and instant communications on Snap Chat. But theretention requirements for social media make it difficult togive customers the 'in the moment' help that they need."
Johnson made her remarks in a speech at a conference hostedby the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association(SIFMA) in Washington.
Johnson called for modernization of the policies aroundsocial media data retention.
"As we all know well ... storage media must preserve therecords exclusively in a non-rewriteable, non-erasable format,"she said. "This one simple sentence has kept compliance, legaland IT departments busy across the industry."
She said she would like to see regulators, such as the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission, allow registeredindividuals, with the appropriate training, to have the freedomto use social media similar to oral communications. She said itwould reduce what she called "the current burdensome supervisionand recordkeeping requirements."(Reporting By Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Susan Thomas)
