Overview
Retention policies in MCO eComms define how long captured messages and alerts are preserved before they are permanently deleted. You configure a default retention period at the account level that applies across your entire organization, and can set separate periods for specific user groups to meet varying regulatory requirements. This article covers both levels of configuration.
Retention periods must reflect your organization's regulatory and internal requirements. MCO does not provide legal advice on appropriate retention periods.
Prerequisites
Task | Required role |
Configure account-level retention | Administrator |
Configure group-level retention | Administrator, IT Admin |
Configure the account-level retention period
Account-level retention sets the organization-wide default for all mapped messages and alerts, and a separate default for unmapped messages. These defaults apply to all users unless a group-level retention policy overrides them.
The Account Defaults page is only accessible to the Administrator role. IT Admins cannot view or edit account-level retention settings.
Go to Settings in the top navigation bar.
Select Account Defaults from the left sidebar.
Scroll to the Retention section.
Click Edit.
In the Retention Period dropdown, select the retention period to apply to mapped messages and alerts.
In the Retention Period for Unmapped Messages dropdown, select the retention period for unmapped messages.
Click Save. A confirmation dialog appears.
Review the warning that existing records will not be affected, then click Confirm New Retention Period to apply the change.
Available retention periods: 1 day, 30 days, 60 days, 184 days, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 6 years, 7 years, 8 years, 9 years, 10 years, Indefinitely.
Warning: Purging permanently deletes messages and alerts that have exceeded their retention period. This process is irreversible. Review your retention periods carefully before confirming.
The new retention period applies only to messages and alerts processed after the change is confirmed. To retroactively update the retention period on existing records, contact MCO Support.
Configure a group-level retention period
A group-level retention policy overrides the account default for all participants in that group. By default, each group inherits the account setting, shown as Same as Account in the group's Retention Policy field. Set a group-level policy when a specific population — such as traders or other regulated employees — requires a different retention period than the rest of the organization.
Go to Settings in the top navigation bar.
Select User Groups from the left sidebar.
Select the group you want to configure.
Click Edit. A settings panel opens on the right.
In the Retention Policy dropdown, select the retention period to apply to participants in this group.
Click Save.
The Save button is inactive until you make a change to the group settings.
The new retention period applies only to messages and alerts processed after the change is saved. Existing records for group members retain their original purge dates.
To remove a group-level override and return to the account default, set Retention Policy back to Same as Account.
Expected outcome
After saving, the updated retention period is displayed on the relevant settings page. Messages and alerts captured from this point forward are retained for the configured period before becoming eligible for purging. Records already in the system retain their original purge dates.
For group-level changes, the group's detail page shows the new retention period in the Retention Policy field instead of Same as Account.