header-logo header-logo

What’s up with WhatsApp?

13 October 2023 / Paul Schwartfeger
Issue: 8044 / Categories: Features , Technology
printer mail-detail
142549
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

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
back-to-top-scroll