The Financial Services Authority is proposing new rules that would require banks and securities firms to tape and record staff mobile phone calls as part of a concerted crackdown on insider dealing.
The watchdog last year introduced rules requiring member firms to record and store for six months all fixed-line conversations, but exempted e-mail and mobile communications from the provisions.
In a consultation paper, the FSA says technology has advanced sufficiently to enable firms to tape calls from staff mobiles. The wiretap can either take place on the handset itself of via a remote server, and retrieved and stored on an inhouse or outsourced hosted server.
While the scope of the proposed rule change will only apply to mobile phones issued by firms for business purposes, the FSA is also proposing to introduce a new rule requiring firms to take "reasonable steps" to ensure that business calls are not made on personal mobiles.
The watchdog anticipate that this proposal will cover around 16,000 mobiles and will come with a one-time price tag of £11 million and ongoing industry costs of about £18 million per annum.
The FSA is calling for feedback on the proposals and says that member firms will have a transition period of one year to implement the new provisions.
Read the full consultation paper:
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