⁍ Nancy King, global head of commodities, and Jay Rubenstein, head of commodities trading, are leaving after years with the firm.

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⁍ The departures were previously reported by Bloomberg and first reported by SparkSpread.

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⁍ The move has stoked concerns among some market participants about the use of different communications services in the trade.

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– Two of Morgan Stanley’s top commodities trading executives are leaving the company after an internal investigation found they had violated company policy by using messaging services such as WhatsApp to communicate with each other, Bloomberg reports. According to SparkSpread, Jay Rubenstein and Nancy King, both of whom have worked at Morgan Stanley for years, are leaving the company after almost 30 years with the firm. Sources tell Reuters the bank found the executives had violated company policy by using messaging services such as WhatsApp to communicate with each other. Commodities trading firms often use messaging services such as WhatsApp to communicate with their clients, who in turn place orders and execute trades. However, banks, oil majors, and commodity merchants have long had strict compliance rules when it comes to communications and several sources have expressed concerns about being monitored by companies when using chat services. Shell Trading, for example, records and monitors communications, including those by phone, internet messenger, e-mail, and other channels, for legal, regulatory, and business purposes, where it is legally permissible to do so. This month, Reuters reported BP fired four trading and operations staff responsible for Chinese crude oil sales as a result of an internal investigation into trades with Singapore’s Hontop Energy. One of the sources said that a factor behind the terminations at BP was improper use of the WeChat messaging platform as a tool for commercial discussions with counterparties. Morgan Stanley did not respond to a request for comment.