Compliance with recordkeeping requirements is necessary and important to ensure the SEC can perform its regulatory functions. Although SEC registrants have received that message loud and clear, the SEC’s sweep targeting off-channel communications nevertheless persists. As most firms have devoted significant resources to meet their obligations, the SEC appears to be adopting inappropriately high standards to bring enforcement actions and continues to collect disproportionate civil monetary penalties. A specific SEC enforcement action arising from a recent electronic communications sweep elicited a strong joint dissent from Commissioners Hester M. Peirce and Mark T. Uyeda, who protested the standard of perfection applied by the SEC and urged the Commission to address the issue of off-channel communications through rulemaking instead of enforcement. Similar discontent is also evident at the CFTC, as a recent enforcement action by the regulator for off-channel communication violations also elicited strong rebukes from two Commissioners. This article summarizes the recent SEC sweep targeting off-channel communications; analyzes one of the specific enforcement actions that resulted in no civil penalty; outlines the dissenting SEC Commissioners’ concerns; discusses similar developments at the CFTC; and offers additional analysis and insights from Hilgers Graben partner Scott F. Mascianica and Simpson Thacher partner Michael J. Osnato Jr. See our two-part series: “Could Emojis and Video Communications Be the Next Frontier of SEC Scrutiny?” (Sep. 19, 2024); and “Compliance Practices to Overcome Recordkeeping Challenges Caused by Emojis and Video Communications” (Oct. 3, 2024).