Google partners to develop AI to help banks manage messaging risks

Symphony, whose client base includes big names like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, will use Google’s generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform called Vertex AI to upgrade its Cloud9 product. The combination will give Cloud9 more sophisticated speech-to-text and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities.

Cloud9 communications enable trading teams to work together across different asset classes such as commodities, interest rate swaps, and derivatives, which can then be more accurately recorded for recordkeeping and reporting purposes when suspicious discussions are detected.

In addition to recording and summarizing regulatory conversations, users will be able to mine the data for additional insights to adjust sales or transaction strategies, as well as track the overall customer experience.

Symphony CEO Brad Levy expects the upgraded product to be available in the second quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, Phil Moyer, vice president of global AI business at Google Cloud, said the platform will make regulatory compliance easier and more natural.

He points out that the amount of data is increasing by 50-60% every year and it is starting to exceed the level that humans can handle. Therefore, tools like Cloud9 and generative AI will contribute to managing this huge amount of data being created.

The partnership between Symphony and Google comes as the crackdown on text messaging and email across the U.S. financial industry reaches a fever pitch, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) imposing more than $2 billion in fines on banks and companies for lapses in the sector.

The majority of the fines relate to companies’ failure to monitor and record business-related text messages sent through unauthorized platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only a small fraction of these companies’ communications are regularly recorded and retained, according to people familiar with the matter.