SEC Fines JPMorgan $4 Million For Accidentally Deleting Records

The Security and Exchange Commission announced it has fined JPMorgan $4 million for accidentally deleting “approximately 47 million electronic communications.”

According to the SEC, JPMorgan tried to delete older communications that it was no longer required to keep in 2016. The endeavor was plagued with issues, however, with many of the communications not being deleted.

Two years later, the company tried again, but accidentally deleted communications it was required to keep. The issue stemmed from bad information from JPMorgan’s archiving company. The archival company assured JPMorgan that data was flagged in such a way that records within the 36-month regulatory retention period could not be deleted. Unfortunately for JPMorgan, that information was not correct, leading to records being deleted that should have been retained.

As a result, the SEC has fined the financial firm.

Respondent JPMorgan shall, within 14 days of the entry of this Order, pay a civil money penalty in the amount of four million dollars ($4,000,000.00) to the Securities and Exchange Commission for transfer to the general fund of the United States Treasury