The folks over at the LiveOffice blog are reporting that the SEC has sent a letter out to the CEOs of firms registered with them warning them to take email compliance and archiving seriously and not to try and cut corners due to the economy. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

While many firms are considering reductions and cost-cutting measures, we remind you of your firm’s legal obligation to maintain an adequate compliance program reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the law. As SEC Chairman Cox noted recently, “[E]xperience has taught us again and again that giving short shrift to regulatory compliance subjects a company’s investors, employees, management, directors, and every other stakeholder to unacceptable risks….[C]ompliance programs have made huge strides in recent years in becoming more formalized and more robust…. Now more than ever, companies need to take a long-term view on compliance and realize that their fiduciary responsibility requires a constant commitment to investors. That means sustaining their support for compliance during this market turmoil, and beyond it as well.”

We agree. If you’re looking for ways to cut costs, don’t do so at the expense of your compliance program!