SEC phone probe snags Steve Cohen, Ken Griffin firms

Securities and Exchange Commission has asked some major hedge funds to review certain employees’ personal mobile phones for evidence of business dealings on unapproved channels, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The hedge funds include Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The SEC and Point72 and did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment, while Citadel said it had no immediate comment.

Last year, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined 16 financial firms, including large banks such as Goldman Sachs Group  and Morgan Stanley, a combined $1.8 billion after staff discussed deals and trades on their personal devices and apps, in a sweeping probe of record-keeping practices.

Reuters reported in October that the SEC’s probe had expanded to investment funds and advisers.