The Securities and Exchange Commission has secured $81m in fines from 16 different firms over widespread violations of recordkeeping requirements tied to the use of text messages and other off-channel communications to conduct business.

The Wall Street regulator said 9 February that the group of broker-dealers and investment advisers admitted facts in the SEC's orders against them, including that their violations broke federal securities law. The firms have agreed to settle the claims with civil penalties and overhauls of their compliance protocols.