April 1, 2003

End of the WORM?

By Gregory Bresiger

Wall Street, which has pressured regulators to approve the use of advanced systems for storing electronic documents, may get its wish. The change would lift the requirement that firms use only so-called WORM (write once, read many) technology for archiving files such as e-mail.

The Securities Industry Association notes that rule 17a-4, which regulates the storage of electronic information, is a decade old. It is no longer suitable for storing huge reams of data, the group said. The SEC, in response, may soon ease its archive rules.