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13 October 2023 / Paul Schwartfeger
Issue: 8044 / Categories: Features , Technology
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What’s up with WhatsApp?

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The Morgan Stanley fine shows why good tech lawyers take a broad approach, explains Paul Schwartfeger
  • Too much tech specialism, particularly at an early stage, can be counter-productive to resolving the client’s issue.
  • Shows the complex range of issues tech lawyers might navigate when advising clients on compliance.
  • Illustrates why a broad approach works best.

Morgan Stanley’s fine for failing to record energy traders’ messages not only shows how Ofgem’s reach extends beyond energy companies, but also serves as a useful frame for thinking about the risks of ‘tech blinkers’ when it comes to matters of tech law.

Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, fined investment bank Morgan Stanley & Co International plc £5.4m last month for breaching regulations aimed at preventing insider dealing and market abuse in wholesale energy markets. The regulator found the bank breached reg 8 of the Electricity and Gas (Market Integrity and Transparency) (Enforcement etc) Regulations 2013 (2013/1389) after it failed to record messages linked to energy market transactions sent by traders via WhatsApp

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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