Bloomberg is under investigation after some of its biggest customers have expressed concern about the journalists that were able to access log-in history and other account details using the powerful terminals of the news agency.
When U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have raised questions about this situation, a spokesman said Saturday that the Federal Reserve is investigating this case, while discussing the matter with Bloomberg representatives.
The Treasury Department is aware of this situation and is also investigating the case. Bloomberg data terminals are computer systems that are used by the company and its subscribers around the world. They have access to financial news or share quotes and can exchange messages over Bloomberg’s secure network.
Bloomberg explained through the voice of Matthew Winkler, editor in chief, that “There was good reason for this, as our reporters used to go to clients in the early days of the company and ask them what topics they wanted to see covered. Understanding how clients used the terminal was more important then. We still do that today, which is why we have feedback tabs on our news-related terminal functions.”
Winkler added that the Bloomberg reporters didn’t have access to portfolio, stock monitoring or trading. They were also not able to track what stories the clients have read or the stocks that they have researched. The journalists couldn’t check the messages sent between clients. There is a confidentiality agreement signed by the journalists to prevent them from writing about non-public information.
However, a few journalists told The New York Times that they were trained to monitor clients’ log-in activity when reading news. They also had access to contact information of subscribers and were supposed to use the terminals to gain an edge when writing their news stories.
In response to this situation, Bloomberg has named an executive to review the compliance with laws applicable to the use of data, and has restricted journalists’ access to information about clients so that they have the same access level as do the clients of the company.
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