BT is working with global mobile operator Truphone to help US firms and those trading with US firms meet Dodd-Frank regulation that requires conversations and data interactions made using mobile devices and leading to trades in the swaps market to be recorded.
BT has been operating a mobile communication recording service in the UK with Teleware since the Financial Services Authority – now the Financial Conduct Authority – stipulated call recording regulations in 2011. It also worked in the US in the second half of 2012 with its own BT Unified Trading System and recording partners such as Verint and Nice Systems to support fixed phone and turret recording.
The Dodd-Frank requirement on oral record keeping of communications from mobile devices came into force on 31 March 2013 for swaps dealers and will be broadened to other firms engaged in swaps dealing and related activities in December. Information must be stored for a year in a retrievable format that can be searched.
Tim Furmidge, BT head of product management, financial technology services, says the company surveyed the supplier market before deciding to work with Truphone. He explains: “We needed a US and global solution. Truphone fitted well as it has a global mobile platform and a strong recording element. Our goal is to deliver a consistent managed service for the recording of mobile conversations wherever it is needed, so as in the UK, we have put a wrapper around Truphone’s service to provide managed services to our customers.”
BT will market Truphone Mobile Recording and manage contract aspects such as ordering, billing, collections and reporting with a view to delivering an end-to-end solution, while Truphone will contract with and supply recording services to the end customer.
Paul Liesching, senior vice president, Truphone Mobile Recording, says: “We have embarked on this relationship with BT because of its strength and presence in global financial markets. By working together to offer Truphone Mobile Recording to the US, we can continue to help firms meet industry regulations quickly and easily. “
The BT managed service is available immediately and the company says it is looking at about 25 contract opportunities. Longer term, it hopes to lead the market and attract over one third of the 50,000 to 70,000 mobile phone subscribers in the US that it estimates could be covered by Dodd-Frank and future regulations requiring mobile communication recording.
While some recording solutions install software in handsets and others take an application approach, BT suggests the Truphone approach is favourable as it captures voice and data traffic within the network and requires no apps or new hardware. Truphone is planning to introduce its recording service into Asia-Pacific by the end of this year and anticipates talking to BT about extending the companies’ partnership nearer the time. Furmidge comments: “One of the things that attracted BT to Truphone is its global architecture.”
Looking forward, Furmidge suggests regulations will emerge that require firms to provide an audit trail of all communications, a problem he says can be resolved by existing capabilities within BT Unified Trading.
