The SEC and CFTC have fined a group of Wall Street firms a combined $549 million. The firms admitted to employees using WhatsApp and other messaging services for business purposes. A pair of regulatory agencies on Tuesday announced large fines for a group of Wall Street banks that admitted to using WhatsApp and other messaging services for business purposes. The Securities and Exchange Commission is fining nine firms a total of $289 million, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued $260 million in fines, for a combined sum of $549 million. The Wednesday announcements bring the SEC's total fines related to the matter to $1.5 billion, while the CFTC's statement said it's imposed more than $1 billion in penalties to date.

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Persons: Grewal, SEC Wells, Houlihan Lokey Organizations: SEC, CFTC, Wall Street, BNP, BMO Capital Markets, Morning, Securities, Exchange, Futures Trading, Americas Securities, Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities USA, Company, Wedbush Securities, Nikko Securities America Locations: Wells Fargo, Wall