Banks shun Zoom: ‘Imagine if my pitch ends up on YouTube’
Banks including Citigroup and UBS have curbed or banned use of the video conferencing app amid security worries
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By
Paul Clarke
April 24, 2020 5:23 pm GMT
A growing list of the world’s largest investment banks are joining the backlash against Zoom, limiting or outright banning staff from using the video conferencing app over fears about security and compliance.
Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered and UBS have all advised their employees to use alternative video conferencing tools for client communication, according to people familiar with the matter.
The previously little-known conferencing tool shot to fame as an early winner as the coronavirus spread and more employees worked from home, with corporations hosting everything from internal meetings to virtual tea breaks on Zoom.
Then the backlash came. German carmaker Daimler and Elon Musk’s SpaceX were among large companies that banned employees from using Zoom for corporate purposes.
People familiar with the matter told
Financial News that investment bankers, already under the watchful eye of compliance departments and forced to conduct deals from home via video conference, have largely been advised against using the tool.
At Citigroup, joining or hosting Zoom calls on personal accounts is “prohibited due to security concerns”, according to internal guidelines, but staff are permitted to use clients’ corporate accounts. Employees are instead encouraged to use its internal system.
JPMorgan largely uses rival app BlueJeans for external meetings, but staff can use Zoom if calls do not need to be recorded.