Do financial services firms need to archive postings on social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook?

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Do financial services firms need to archive postings on social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook?

FINRA defines any postings by registered representatives on social networking sites as advertisements for the registered firms. As such, they must be retained for three years from the date last use. Given that postings on many sites are available in perpetuity, companies may need to archive this data for longer than three years. As documented in FINRA notice 10-06:

“Every firm that intends to communicate, or permit its associated persons to communicate, through social media sites must first ensure that it can retain records of those communications as required by Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and NASD Rule 3110.”

For more information, please refer to the FINRA site for electronic communications: http://www.finra.org/industry/issues/advertising/p006118