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Independent broker/dealers will probably ask their employees and registered representatives to restrict or do away with instant messaging rather than submit to the onerous task of keeping records of such communications, consultants said.
Particularly in todays post-boom era of conservative investing and careful asset allocation, rapid-fire communication is not a business necessity for most representatives. Unlike active traders, they rarely use instant messaging for communications with clients, each other or broker/dealer management. And most execute orders through their broker/dealers own technology platform.
"For the average rep, it's not crucial to business," said Rick Cortese, vice president of consulting for
Unlike e-mail, consumer versions of instant messaging products, like AOL, dont provide any way to automatically save instant messages, and the NASD says in its advisory that many firms have already opted to ban instant messaging because they couldnt adequately supervise its use.
