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FINRA-Compliant Email Archiving

Financial services organizations are data powerhouses, created by the digital transformation of the industry, which was critical for innovation and growth. However, digital data also comes with responsibility. Financial services organizational data is often sensitive and proprietary, and it comes under the jurisdiction of data retention, security, and privacy laws, such as those enforced by FINRA and the SEC. Emails generate astonishing volumes of business data. Over 364 billion emails are sent and received daily, with email volumes expected to top 424 billion daily. By 2028, the world will generate 394 zettabytes of data (one zettabyte equals a trillion gigabytes). Emails and attachments are part of this vast store of data. The financial sector is required to protect and retain email-based data and associated attachments. However, the regulations recognize that there must be a balance between security and accessibility, as well as between business operations, legal requirements, compliance, and business continuity. Secure and accessible storage of emails is provided by using an email archiving solution that meets regulatory compliance requirements, such as FINRA.

What is Email Archiving?

Email archiving solutions are an integrated set of technologies used to create an exact copy of emails, attachments, and calendars. Email archiving solutions ensure that the archive and discovery processes are secure, scalable, privacy-respectful, and fast. Email archiving solutions, such as ArcTitan, are designed to enforce robust data protection and granular retention policies, ensuring that companies utilizing email archiving are compliant with regulations like GDPR, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and FINRA.

The functionality driving email archiving solutions is designed to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Capabilities include the following:

  • Fast eDiscovery to ensure legal requirements during litigation and other law cases are fast and accurate.
  • Documentation and traceability for audit and investigations.
  • Business continuity and disaster recovery processes.
  • Records management.
  • Robust authentication and access control to ensure the security of emails and attachments.
  • Secure and encrypted storage.

Email archiving solutions are a valuable tool for disaster recovery operations, as they provide a backup for vital business emails. However, email archiving is much more than a backup system. Another essential feature of email archiving is the ability to store large amounts of email-based data on mail servers, which would otherwise place a significant overhead on a network server. Overall, email archiving solutions that offer advanced and robust security, along with granular retention policies, are essential for FINRA compliance.

What is FINRA?

FINRA, or Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit, and self-regulating organization; FINRA is government-approved. FINRA regulates Broker-Dealer Firms, Capital Acquisition Brokers, and Funding Portals. Approximately 3,400 organizations, with 150,000 branch offices, fall under the governance of FINRA. FINRA issued $54.5 million in non-compliance fines in 2022 for various FINRA violations. FINRA is overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This oversight by the SEC means that FINRA regulatory compliance includes considerations under SEC Rule 17a-4(b), with FINRA Rule 4511 covering electronic records (including emails) in a format that complies with SEC Rule 17a-4.

FINRA Rule
How ArcTitan Supports the FINRA Rule

FINRA Rule

FINRA Rule 4511 requires firms to (1) preserve books and records including emails) as required under the rules of FINRA, the Securities Exchange Act (SEA), and applicable SEA rules; and (2) preserve records required under FINRA rules in a format and media that complies with SEC Rule 17a-4. FINRA record retention rules form a core requirement under the regulation. Currently, the FINRA retention rule states that records should be saved for six years.

How ArcTitan Supports the FINRA Rule

The ArcTitan email archiving system provides FINRA-compliant storage using an easy-to-use interface where retention policies can be configured and enforced. These policies are also adaptable if regulatory requirements change. It is advised to perform an annual review of any email retention policies.

FINRA Rule

FINRA rule 4513 states that financial companies must keep records of customer complaints for at least four years.

How ArcTitan Supports the FINRA Rule

As mentioned above, ArcTitan is flexible enough to provide varying retention policies that meet FINRA-compliant storage requirements based on the classification of an email.

FINRA Rule

FINRA Rule 3110: firms must establish and maintain a system to supervise the activities of associated persons by FINRA rules. This includes retaining internal communication and correspondence for the time and accessibility specified in SEA 17a-4(b)

How ArcTitan Supports the FINRA Rule

ArcTitan maintains audit trails and records of any supervisory reviews of emails. ArcTitan has the concept of Data Guardians who can initiate monitoring of administrator access and privileged user searches.

FINRA Rule

FINRA Rule 2210: retention of communications and correspondence with the public must be in line with SEC Rules 17a-4 and 17a-(b).

How ArcTitan Supports the FINRA Rule

ArcTitan allows the preservation of email by the SEC requirements.

FINRA-Compliant Email Archiving

On October 12, 2022, FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) changed data retention requirements for all electronic records. Corporations following FINRA regulations (e.g., banks and financial institutions) must keep electronic records for six years. Failure to comply with FINRA leads to hefty fines, so organizations must verify that backups and archives are unaltered, secured, and retained to avoid millions in fines and other penalties.

The retention rules are stringent, and an email archiving solution that complies with FINRA storage rules is a must-have for any FINRA-covered entity. Email archiving in the financial sector must be compliant with the FINRA and SEC regulations.

How does email compliance archiving (FINRA /SEC) work, and what problems does it solve for businesses?

Email compliance archiving is designed with regulatory adherence in mind. Email compliance archiving has many features that help build a compliant environment. These include email indexing for fast discovery, easily accessible records, auditing and reporting, and automated email archiving. By incorporating features such as security, privacy, and email retention, an email compliance archiving service ensures your financial organization complies with regulations, including those of FINRA and the SEC.

How does email compliance archiving (FINRA /SEC) compare with other leading email archiving providers in features and pricing?

Achieving adherence with financial regulations requires specific capabilities that email compliance archiving delivers. Features that help with FINRA and SEC adherence include data security, privacy, and email retention controls. The security features involve end-to-end encryption of all emails and attachments in the repository. Other security features, such as access control and authentication, help mitigate unauthorized access. FINRA-specific requirements, such as email indexing for rapid discovery and email retention, along with ease of accessibility, are critical capabilities of email compliance archiving.

What key factors should IT managers consider before choosing email compliance archiving (FINRA /SEC)?

IT managers should evaluate email compliance archiving based on specific features and requirements. FINRA rules, for example, specify measures to protect customer and firm confidential data. When considering an email compliance archiving solution, select one designed to support financial sector regulations. Capabilities should include data protection measures such as end-to-end encryption, AI-powered antimalware, and robust authentication. Email compliance archiving solutions must also provide granular controls over email retention. Beyond capabilities, the email compliance archiving solution should be flexible around storage limits without significantly increasing costs for extra space.

SEC Compliant Email Archiving

Why do companies choose SEC-compliant email archiving when evaluating email archiving options?

SEC Rule 17a-4 (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) defines the requirements for preserving records, including emails and attachments. These rules include accurate record-keeping and minimum retention periods of typically six years. SEC-compliant email archiving provides the capability to meet these SEC rules using automation, data security, ease of search and retrieval, and modifiable data retention policies.

Which types of businesses benefit most from SEC-compliant email archiving?

SEC-compliant email archiving ensures that any covered entities can adhere to SEC Rule 17a-4. This rule applies to a broad range of organizations, including broker-dealers and any other entities that trade securities or act as brokers for traders. These entities include banks, securities firms, and others that fall under the jurisdiction of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Does SEC-compliant email archiving integrate easily with Office 365, Google Workspace, or other email platforms?

SEC-compliant email archiving benefits from deep integration with Office 365, Google Workspace, and other email platforms. By integrating with an email platform, the archiving software automates the capture of emails that are sent and received. The automation eliminates any chance of human error.

FINRA Compliance Archiving Additional Features

Email archiving is now a must-have technology within any organization that needs to be FINRA compliant. However, the capabilities inherent in advanced email archiving solutions include other features, such as the following:

Lower Costs: Cloud-based email archiving solutions are a cost-effective way to store unstructured data such as emails. Cost reductions occur because no on-premises hardware or software is required. Cloud-based email archiving solutions that address FINRA can be deployed using a third party, like an MSP. The MSP will handle the maintenance and management of email archiving. Also, MSPs are usually in an excellent position to negotiate great prices and control client costs by offering a monthly fee.

Compliance with FINRA and Other Regulations: Regulatory bodies like FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) have audit and retention requirements. Cloud-based email archiving is designed to allow efficient and fast archive and retrieval; eDiscovery must be quick and accurate to ensure the recovery of the requested data within regulatory guidelines. Retention requirements vary, but typically require that documents and emails be kept safely for three to seven years; FINRA sets email retention at six years.

Unlimited Email Storage: Due to the vast amount of email generated in even small organizations, cloud archive solutions must be able to offer unlimited email storage. If unlimited storage is not part of the plan, an organization will either face escalating costs over time or have emails not archived, leaving a FINRA compliance gap.  

Scalability: Cloud-based email archiving solutions offer enterprise scalability with no on-premises hardware and no limit on user numbers. This is an essential feature for any FINRA-governed entity to ensure you are always compliant.

Security: An email archiving service must be secure by design. Often, email-based data, including attachments, contains sensitive and proprietary information. This data could expose a company to damage to its reputation and products, along with non-compliance fines. Email archiving solutions must use encryption during data transfer and storage. Email archiving solutions must also enforce robust access controls and authentication based on the principles of least privilege. 

Granular Email Retention Policies: Email retention policies must be adaptable to different regulations and jurisdiction requirements. Also, email eDiscovery must be designed to handle email search and retrieval quickly and efficiently.

How ArcTitan Supports the FINRA Rule

FINRA Rule 4511 requires firms to (1) preserve books and records, including emails, as required under the rules of FINRA, the Securities Exchange Act (SEA), and applicable SEA rules; and (2) preserve records required under FINRA rules in a format and media that comply with SEC Rule 17a-4. FINRA record retention rules form a core requirement under the regulation. Currently, the FINRA retention rule states that records should be saved for six years.

The ArcTitan email archiving system provides FINRA-compliant storage with an easy-to-use interface, allowing retention policies to be configured and enforced. These policies are also adaptable if regulatory requirements change. It is advised to perform an annual review of any email retention policies.

FINRA Rule 4513 states that financial companies must keep records of customer complaints for at least four years.

As mentioned above, ArcTitan is flexible enough to provide varying retention policies that meet FINRA-compliant storage requirements based on the classification of an email.

FINRA Rule 3110: firms must establish and maintain a system to supervise the activities of associated persons by FINRA rules. This includes retaining internal communication and correspondence for the time and accessibility specified in SEA 17a-4(b)

ArcTitan maintains audit trails and records of any supervisory reviews of emails. ArcTitan has the concept of Data Guardians who can initiate monitoring of administrator access and privileged user searches.

FINRA Rule 2210: retention of communications and correspondence with the public must be in line with SEC Rules 17a-4 and 17a-b.

ArcTitan allows the preservation of email in accordance with the SEC requirements.

Email Archiving in the Financial Sector

The financial sector comprises many types of organizations, from banks and brokers to investment firms and financial advisors. Each must comply with FINRA. Some examples of FINRA-regulated organizations include the following:

Email archiving for banks

What makes email archiving for banks different from traditional email storage or backups?

Banks must handle a diverse user base and demographic. A bank’s email system must be highly robust and must comply with data protection laws, and specifically any regulations that affect the financial sector. Email archiving for banks must provide features that meet these requirements. As such, email archiving for banks must be highly scalable, secure, privacy-preserving, and compliant.

How does email archiving for banks compare with other leading email archiving providers in features and pricing?

Email archiving for banks is a cloud-based service that can grow with the bank and its customers. Banks can be assured that the solution will provide robust security to protect their customers, employees, and investors. Email archiving for banks is compliant with regulations and the email retention requirements of SEC Rule 17a-4. Data security measures must include encryption, data loss prevention (DLP), and robust access controls. Additionally, email archiving for banks must comply with the requirements of data privacy and protection regulations, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Pricing for email archiving for banks is cost-effective when using a cloud-based, hosted solution.

How scalable is email archiving for banks for growing businesses or enterprises?

Email archiving for banks is a cloud-based solution, making it highly scalable for a growing customer and employee base. Email archiving for banks can be delivered by an MSP that can handle the deployment, maintenance, and management of the email archive. Alternatively, the bank can host the email archiving solution in a private cloud.

Financial advisor email archiving

Why do companies choose financial advisor email archiving when evaluating email archiving options?

Financial advisor email archiving is consistently chosen by companies needing to adhere to financial sector regulations. Email archiving explicitly designed to meet stringent regulations, such as those of FINRA and SEC, ensures that financial advisors remain compliant.

How easy is it to migrate to financial advisor email archiving from another archiving system?

Migrating to a financial advisor email archiving system from another archiving system depends on the organization's size and the specific circumstances of the migration. For example, migrating archived emails, attachments, calendars, and employee inboxes may be required during an M&A transaction. Migrating to a cloud-based financial advisor email archive software system can simplify this process.

Does financial advisor email archiving integrate easily with Office 365, Google Workspace, or other email platforms?

Yes, financial advisor email archiving solutions do integrate with email platforms such as Google Workspace and Office 365. Integration enables automated email archiving, eliminating the risk of human error. Automation ensures that financial advisor companies remain compliant with financial sector regulations.

Email archiving for financial services

What makes email archiving for financial services different from traditional email storage or backups?

Email archiving for financial services must be secure, automated, and robust to meet the data protection and email retention requirements of regulations. Email backup and storage solutions are designed for short- to medium-term storage, providing fast recovery in the event of a disaster, such as ransomware. Email archiving for financial services is the long-term storage of email content, attachments, and calendars designed to meet regulatory compliance requirements. The archived emails must be searchable, secure, maintain integrity, and be subject to retention limits.

How does email archiving for financial services compare with other leading email archiving providers in features and pricing?

Email archiving for financial services is a cloud-based service that scales as a financial services company expands its customer base and employee count. Email archiving for financial services is compliant with regulations and the email retention requirements of SEC Rule 17a-4. Data security measures that fall under the requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are part of an email archiving solution for financial services. The email archive is cost-effective as it is hosted and delivered using a cloud delivery model.

How scalable is email archiving for financial services for growing businesses or enterprises?

Scalability is essential for growing businesses. Email archiving for financial services is a cloud-based solution, making it highly scalable for a growing customer and employee base. Email archiving for banks can be delivered by an MSP that can handle the deployment, maintenance, and management of the email archive. Alternatively, the bank can host the email archiving solution in a private cloud.

Investment firm email archiving

What makes investment firm email archiving different from traditional email storage or backups?

Investment firms are required to adhere to strict regulations, including those of the SEC and MiFID II, regarding data retention. These rules set long-term retention expectations for data, including email communications. Investment firm email archiving is designed to provide flexible and granular email retention configuration to ensure that the financial industry regulatory requirements are met. Traditional email storage or backups are intended for disaster scenarios, such as ransomware. The storage and backup solutions allow an organization to restore data and emails rapidly.

How easy is it to migrate to an investment firm's email archiving from another archiving system?

Migrating from a traditional email archiving system to one designed for investment firms depends on the organization's size and the specific circumstances of the migration. For example, migrating archived emails, attachments, calendars, and employee inboxes may be required during an M&A. Using a cloud-based email archive can simplify the process by migrating to an investment firm's email archive software system.

What are the long-term cost savings of switching to investment firm email archiving?

Investment firm companies can save costs over the long term by choosing to use an investment firm email archiving service. Cost savings can be achieved through reduced email storage needs. Some email archiving services offer “pay-as-you-go” subscriptions to spread the cost of the archive.

FINRA Non-Compliance Fines and Penalties

If found non-compliant with FINRA requirements, an organization will be subject to fines and penalties under the regulation. FINRA investigates any potential securities violations and then enforces sanctions based on the type of violation. FINRA fines for failing to secure financial records and lacking a proper audit trail amount to millions each year. In 2023 and 2024, the total FINRA fines were $89 million and $59 million, respectively.

Examples of recent fines and penalties enforced by FINRA for retention policy violations cover a vast range, depending on circumstances and the size of the organization. Some company executives may also face personal liability. Some examples of fines include the following:

OCP Capital, LLC – $75,000

Improperly retained emails. FINRA fined the firm for failing to carry out its supervisory obligations with respect to its review of email communications. FINRA stated: “The firm did not take reasonable steps to retain and archive emails sent or received by the individual.”

CashApp - $375,000

A lack of database security allowed insider threats and unauthorized access to customer data.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc (DBSI) - $2.5 Million Fine 

FINRA penalized DBSI with a fine of $2.5 million for non-compliance with FINRA Rule 3110(a), which requires covered entities to “establish and maintain a system to supervise the activities of each associated person that is reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws and regulations.” FINRA found that DBSI failed to comply with its record-keeping obligations; DBSI undertook remediation efforts to address these obligations.

JP Morgan - $200 Million in Penalties

In 2021, JP Morgan was recently fined $200 million for failing to preserve email archives containing staff communications on workstations and mobile devices. After a third-party subpoena could not be fulfilled, an audit revealed JP Morgan's oversight of data retention policies, which resulted in millions of dollars in fines. In 2023, JP Morgan was further fined by the SEC for mistakenly deleting 47 million emails.

Barclays Capital Inc. - $3.75 Million Fine

Systemic failures to preserve electronic records led to a $3.75 million fine for Barclays. The company failed to comply with the FINRA rule that requires business-related electronic records to be kept in "non-rewritable, non-erasable format (also referred to as 'Write-Once, Read-Many' or 'WORM' format) to prevent alteration." 

In addition to financial penalties, other sanctions from FINRA include suspensions, and if found guilty of serious misconduct, individuals can be barred from the brokerage industry.

Full FINRA sanction guidelines can be viewed here.

How to Meet FINRA-Compliant Email Archiving

Not all email archiving solutions are created equal. While it is vital to have email archiving to meet FINRA, simply using email storage is not enough. Choosing an email archiving system that meets the email storage and retention requirements of FINRA means looking for additional capabilities. Features and functions of a FINRA complaint email archiving solution include the following: 

  • Comprehensive indexing to ensure fast and accurate searching can be performed for eDiscovery requests.
  • Comprehensive archive monitoring. Monitoring is essential not only for audits but also to help identify any potential cyber-attacks quickly.
  • Customizable and granular permissions and retention policies that can be adapted if regulations change or new ones enter the landscape.
  • Advanced security that includes in-transit and at-rest email encryption. Authentication and access control are essential aspects of an email archiving system and should be robust.
  • The archive system must store emails in formats that comply with FINRA Exchange Act Rule 17a-4
  • Efficient and reliable record deletion. Once the retention date has passed, the email archiving system must be able to delete old emails to ensure that space is optimized and potential liability is limited. 
  • Legal hold request support is essential to use in combination with secure deletion. Legal holds are used when evidence is needed in an ongoing legal case. Legal delays will prevent emails from being deleted if they are likely required for legal reasons. It is also used for non-legal activities, such as locking essential contracts or documents that must be preserved.
  • Methods to reduce human error. An email archiving solution that integrates with popular office products, like Office 365, helps to reduce human error and maintain compliance.
  • Support for a remote workforce. Remote workers must be covered by the email archiving solution to ensure comprehensive compliance.

What Financial Institutions and Brokers Should Know

Any institution regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must review requirements and ensure they are met. The organization needs a strategy to back up and retain financial data. Of course, having a retention plan for electronic data is only one component of FINRA regulations, so every organization should thoroughly review FINRA compliance. Usually, full FINRA compliance requires a third party knowledgeable in all things FINRA, but organizations can take steps to secure their data and proceed with compliance.

Electronic data includes communication and stored customer information. Any sensitive information should be protected using cryptographically secure methods such as encryption for data at rest and in transit. Backups and archives should be secured but made available when necessary, using eDiscovery.

Archives differ from backups, and ArcTitan ensures that all archives comply with FINRA rules while remaining accessible to those who need to work with them. For example, email archives are necessary for investigations and legal concerns. For example, one reason for the JP Morgan non-compliance penalty was that the company’s audit failed to answer a subpoena. ArcTitan archives enable your legal team and corporate staff to swiftly search for essential data in response to subpoenas or cybersecurity incidents.

Robust email archives also provide a search feature that uses indexed content to deliver fast and accurate results. ArcTitan offers an archiving platform that helps everyone involved in an audit quickly find data and export it for future use. Stakeholders receive reports that identify audited activities related to email archives. 

ArcTitan secures all data in the cloud, so administrators do not have the overhead of applying specific security measures.

TitanHQ’s security platform offers several benefits, including services for security training, compliance, data protection, phishing simulations, reports, and real-time intervention during simulated attacks. 

Five Quick Ways to Help Comply with FINRA Email Retention Rules

  1. Create a retention policy that meets FINRA rules. Collaborating with stakeholders in your organization, including compliance officers, legal, IT, and security teams, is essential to ensure the policy meets FINRA requirements. Be sure to include nuances around archiving, such as legal hold requests.
  2. Review specific regulatory and legal requirements of FINRA that impact email. This includes the availability of emails, speed to eDiscovery, and security.
  3. Classify and index emails. Create a classification system for emails related to FINRA requirements and the implementation of the regulation. For example, customer complaints must be kept for four years. 
  4. Implement an email archiving solution that meets FINRA regulations, such as ArcTitan. Set up a governance layer of individuals who administrate and govern the email archiving system.
  5. Monitor email archive activity and generate regular reports that can be used as evidence of compliance and supervision during an audit. 

ArcTitan Email Archiving

ArcTitan is an email archiving system designed to deliver cloud-based email storage and retrieval at a lightning-fast speed backed by robust security. ArcTitan is integrated into Office 365, making the process of email archiving automated and straightforward, and reducing human error, helping to maintain compliance.

Some of the features of ArcTitan include the following:

Comprehensive Indexing

Indexing emails for archiving is an essential feature of the FINRA-compliant email archiving solution provided by ArcTitan. Robustly indexed emails make searches faster and more accurate. Email must also be stored in formats compliant with the FINRA rules, i.e., FINRA Exchange Act Rule 17a-4. 

Archive Monitoring

Archive event monitoring must be covered 24/7 to ensure that FINRA rules are always on and potential cyber-attacks are detected.

Legal Hold Requests 

Audits, investigations, or legal cases may require that some emails be preserved even after the retention period expires. ArcTitan’s legal hold feature provides this functionality.

Cost-Effective

ArcTitan provides a flexible “pay as you go” email archiving model. Email archiving can be purchased as a per-live user subscription, saving up to 75% of email storage space.

Accessible

The email archive generated by ArcTitan is accessible using almost any mail client or via a web-based interface. End users use a powerful and fast search engine to locate archived and indexed emails. Access is managed using an advanced delegation mechanism, compatible with LDAP and Active Directory. This allows administrators to create a permission hierarchy for critical employees based on the security principle of least privileged access.

Secure

ArcTitan enforces data encryption during transfer and storage to protect emails and attachments. Data transfer encryption is based on the TLS standard (Transport Layer Security). All passwords are hashed and encrypted. Other security features include digital certificate management and antivirus scanning of emails. In addition, robust authentication and access control are enforced.

Audit

Tamper-proof audit trails are inherent in the system and used to identify any unauthorized alterations to archived emails. This is essential to maintaining and evidencing regulatory compliance with FINRA and other laws and regulations.

Fast eDiscovery

Archiving is automated, emails are indexed, and search is fast. ArcTitan's load performance supports more than 200 emails per second from the email server. In addition, searches can be combined and saved, and multiple probes can be performed simultaneously.

Scalability and Performance

ArcTitan has no limits on email storage, ensuring that emails are quickly and efficiently archived and indexed. This helps maintain compliance, as emails are archived before accidental deletion occurs. 

ArcTitan storage is elastic and grows as your email archive expands. The size of the archive does not impact performance. Emails are archived in real time and automatically sent to the archive. Duplicate content is removed, and emails are compressed to reduce storage space and improve search efficiency. ArcTitan provides 100% protection against data loss and protects mail servers against outages.

Compliance

ArcTitan is an automated service that removes human errors and maintains timely and accurate email archives. This helps create reliable email archiving that meets FINRA regulatory compliance requirements on retention. In addition, the powerful and fast search feature ensures that email requests for information for legal or compliance reasons are addressed promptly. Also, a comprehensive audit trail provides the necessary documentation to demonstrate compliance.

Can an MSP Deliver FINRA-Compliant Email Archiving?

ArcTitan Email archiving is deployed as a Storage-as-a-Service option to store long-held data in a safe and secure place. A cloud-based archiving solution is designed for all data types, including unstructured data such as emails. Archived data is securely stored and accessible from a central location for users with the correct access rights. In addition, a cloud-based email archive system collates data from multiple points across an entire enterprise, including remote workers, for easier management, maintenance, and access control enforcement. The emails are stored in a format that is compatible with FINRA requirements. As a centrally managed and deployed cloud-based email archiving solution, ArcTitan is an ideal solution for delivery by a managed service provider (MSP) on behalf of enterprise clients.

Why ArcTitan is an Ideal Email Archive Solution for an MSP to Deliver FINRA Compliance 

There are many email archiving solutions available in the market. However, not all will have the breadth of features and granular controls that are needed for compliance with FINRA and other regulations. ArcTitan has been designed to deliver the broad range of features required to meet FINRA and work for the companies using the solution in terms of cost, scalability, and ease of use. However, ArcTitan is also ideal for delivery by an MSP as it provides a solution that is:

Cloud-Based: ArcTitan email archives are delivered using a cloud-based Storage-as-a-Solution model. This provides a centralized, multi-tenancy service, a highly scalable platform ideal for delivery and management via an MSP. Maintenance and deployment are simple, fast, and highly controllable. ArcTitan is also deeply integrated into Office 365. Any MSP that provides Office 365 solutions can easily add and deploy ArcTitan to their clients, making email archiving part of an MSP's extended stack.

Cost-Effective: The choice of an email archiving solution that is FINRA-compliant may come down to cost. ArcTitan offers a cost-effective way for an MSP to deliver automated, secure, and scalable email archiving to its clients. Email storage is 80% cheaper using ArcTitan.

Adds Value to an MSP Portfolio: FINRA-compliant email archiving is a value-add for any MSP that deals with companies that must comply with email and other data retention rules. ArcTitan offers your customers a way to store and access email quickly, accurately, and efficiently. ArcTitan provides automatic backup, and no tape machines/discs are needed. Also, no off-site storage is required.
 
According to research from Forbes, 95% of businesses are concerned about managing unstructured data. ArcTitan archives emails and unstructured data, making them available in FINRA-compliant formats. ArcTitan has archived over 11 billion emails to date. Scalable, secure, and accessible unstructured data archiving is achieved through an advanced email archiving system offered by ArcTitan, which is designed to be simple to deploy, maintain, use, secure, and perpetual.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FINRA email retention requirements specify that financial sector covered entities create and retain data (including email communications) in accordance with Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (“SEA”). The retention period is usually six years, but can be longer. Email archiving solutions must offer flexible and adaptable email retention policies to meet the requirements of FINRA.

The process of migrating from another archiving solution to one that meets FINRA’s email retention requirements is influenced by the organization's size, the capabilities of the original email archive, and the reason for the transition. However, by moving to a cloud-based email archiving solution, a financial services organization will find a smoother transition that meets FINRA rules.

An email archiving solution that integrates with Office 365, Google Workspace, or another email platform will help in adhering to FINRA rules.  Email platform integration ensures the accuracy of email records by automating the capture process. Automation removes human error. Additionally, FINRA requires that email archives be “easily accessible.” Integration with an email platform ensures that email records are accessible while maintaining robust access controls.

Any entity required to adhere to stringent email retention policies, as mandated by FINRA and the SEC, must use secure email archiving software that supports long-term secure email storage. Traditional email storage and backups are designed for short- to medium-term storage, as they are used for disaster recovery, such as restoring data after a ransomware attack.

Secure email archiving utilizes multiple layers of security to ensure that emails maintain integrity and are resistant to unauthorized access. The security measures include end-to-end encryption for the safe storage and transfer of emails, robust access controls that adhere to the principle of least privilege, and AI-powered antimalware.

When evaluating a secure email archiving solution, IT managers in financial services should look for the following features: standards-based encryption such as AES 256-bit, TLS encryption for email transfer security, robust authentication options, AI-powered antimalware, email retention policies that are long-term and adjustable, comprehensive auditing and reporting, centralized management and deployment, and cost-effective cloud-based scalability.

Cloud-based email archiving provides a compliant and secure email repository hosted remotely. Cloud email archiving tools capture and preserve emails, attachments, and calendars, benefitting businesses by saving up to 80% of email storage space. The cloud email archive contains a secure copy of all emails and attachments, ensuring compliance with data protection laws, such as FINRA and SEC 17a-4 email compliance. To adhere to regulatory compliance, cloud email archiving tools must perform rapid and accurate search and retrieval while remaining secure. Cloud email archiving solutions support all types of data, including unstructured data like emails. To maintain compliance, a cloud email archiving solution must offer a comprehensive range of capabilities, including robust security, privacy, and granular retention limits.

Cloud-based email archiving can benefit any company needing an archive that accurately represents its email communications. Cloud-based email archiving is ideal for financial service companies that require compliant email archives. As a cloud-based service, email archiving offers scalability, ensuring the email archive grows with the business.

Cloud-based email archiving solutions offer a financial organization a way to make long-term cost savings. Companies that move their email archiving to the cloud reduce their spending on deployment, operations, and maintenance. Vendors and MSPs typically handle the hosting, maintenance, and overhead of running a cloud email archiving solution.

Email archiving services work by storing all sent and received emails along with their attachments as copies in a repository. Advanced email archiving services are typically integrated into existing email platforms, such as Google Workspace and Office 365. Deep integration utilizes automation to capture email traffic without human intervention, thereby eliminating potential errors. Automated email archiving services reduce any impact on working processes and productivity. The service is cloud-based, secure, and highly scalable. Email archiving services are designed to meet regulatory compliance requirements around email data security, privacy, and retention periods.

Email archiving services are hosted in the cloud, helping to reduce email storage costs by up to 80%. An MSP can deliver hosted email archiving services to help reduce the costs associated with deploying, managing, and maintaining an email archive. Financial service companies can use an MSP delivery model or host the email archive in a private cloud, if required.

The long-term cost savings for financial service companies that choose to use an email archiving service include reduced costs of email storage. Some email archiving services offer “pay-as-you-go” subscriptions to spread the cost of the archive.