Deutsche Bank AG has banned text messages and communication apps such as WhatsApp on company-issued phones in an effort to improve compliance standards. The functionality will be switched off this quarter, chief regulatory officer Sylvie Matherat and chief operating officer Kim Hammonds told staff in a memo.

Unlike e-mails, text messages can’t be archived by the bank, said a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. “We fully understand that the deactivation will change your day-to-day work and we regret any inconvenience this may cause,” Matherat and Hammonds said.

Text message spam is best ignored, but when a security researcher followed a trail of deception laid out on Apple's iMessage he became the proud owner of cheap designer accessories from China.

If you haven't gotten spam on your Apple iMessage, count yourself lucky. Spam has been ballooning on the tech giant's mobile messaging service, security researchers at CloudMark say. In May, iMessage spam made up more than 40 percent of all mobile spam. Landesman, anti-spam researcher, confirmed his suspicion that the spam came from China after buying the advertised designer-label knock-offs. They were all shipped from China.