Not retaining written comms is evading regulations - "retain written comms" is one, and using Signal/WhatsApp is evading it.

Nobody working in banking is unaware of the written comms rules. Nobody using Signal or WhatsApp in that context is unaware they can't retain written comms. Can you prove intent? Probably not. Is it clear as daylight why this happened? Uh, yes.

And so the SEC hits them where it hurts at least a little bit, in the wallet.

Also, if you pay attention to the banking space... this is pretty much the usual cast of characters. There's absolutely no surprise.

Signal and WhatsApp messages are trivial to retain - my company Hadrius does exactly this.

Intent is harder to prove.

Personally, I sympathize. Rewriting headlines here (when necessary) can be tough; it isn't a given that the optimal one will reveal itself.