Tier one investment banks are electing to instate global mobile phone recording solutions to comply with post-crisis regulatory reform in the US and Europe.
From November, swap dealers and major swap participants in the US market are required to record mobile and fixed line phone conversations that relate to investment decisions under the Dodd-Frank Act.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) initially set the deadline for March this year, but then issued no-action relief until this month.
Tim Furmidge, head of product management, financial technology services for BT, said take-up of mobile phone recording services by those active in the US swaps market had reflected a global outlook, particularly at the top banks. BT offers call recording in the US through a partnership with telephone network provider Truphone.
“Major tier-one investment banks are taking a global view because they’re trading in the US market - even for teams based in Asia,” he said. “Firms are taking a view these rules will eventually be global – it started in the UK, now the US and potentially throughout Europe with current MiFID II talks.”
In the UK, mobile phone recording of investment-related calls began in 2011 shortly after fixed-line call recording started in 2009.
In September, BT and Truphone partnered to extend BT’s call recording offering to the US, and Furmidge said that call recording services were optimal for global roll-out as they could be delivered over cloud solutions, with little need for new hardware.
Under the Dodd-Frank Act, information contained in voice calls must be stored for a year in a retrievable format that can be easily searched, and includes conversations and data interactions made on mobile devices such as mobile phones and smartphones.