Retention of Social Media Content Still Bedevils Securities Firms

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Are you or your securities firm among those who have jumped with both feet into the world of social media marketing?

A recent industry survey confirms that nearly two-thirds of all asset managers were actively using social media for marketing purposes.  This is consistent with other contemporary survey results, which establish that social media use is on the rise for organizations across the globe.

Despite the rising popularity of social media in the securities industry, retention of social media content continues to haunt securities firms.  Indeed, 63% of surveyed asset managers reported that “regulatory recordkeeping” remains their greatest challenge with social media.  And as more firms move toward social media marketing, the number of companies experiencing difficulty with retention is also likely to increase.

What can you do to help your firm comply with pertinent SEC and FINRA regulations regarding retention of social media content?

One of the most significant steps you can take is to deploy Symantec Enterprise Vault 10.  Enterprise Vault 10 and its network of technology partners will capture social media content from company hosted or controlled “interactive electronic forums” involving investors.  Such forums include firm Twitter feeds, company Facebook pages, corporate websites, blogs and other social networking sites.

With social media content safely ingested into a centrally managed and indexed repository, Enterprise Vault 10 allows you to quickly search and analyze the data.  Through Enterprise Vault Compliance Accelerator, your firm can perform a cost-effective supervisory review of social media content to help ensure compliance with corporate policy and regulatory bodies.  Moreover, with Enterprise Vault Discovery Accelerator, you can implement legal holds and efficiently retrieve archived social media content in response to legal and regulatory requests.  All of which enables you to establish the reasonableness of your retention and eDiscovery processes and demonstrate compliance with relevant SEC and FINRA regulations.

With Enterprise Vault 10, your firm can reap the benefits of social media marketing knowing that it is taking the right steps toward addressing regulatory recordkeeping requirements.