Is work from home ending for brokerage employees?

Barclays Plc is among Wall Street firms weighing whether to require scores of workers to commute to company offices five days a week, as US brokerage regulators enact new rules for supervising work at home.

A more stringent in-person mandate may only affect operations overseen by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named discussing the internal deliberations. 

The talks already are advanced enough that some managers have started warning employees to prepare to commute daily, one of the people said. Last month, Truist Financial Corp. announced a similar five-day policy that will soon impact some of its Wall Street staff.

Finra has announced a slate of requirements that are set to take effect in coming weeks — the latest twists in how watchdogs are adjusting to the work-from-home era. When the pandemic erupted and forced much of the industry to log on remotely, authorities initially loosened rules requiring firms to constantly surveil staff. In the months and years since, regulators have adopted measures to address the flexibility that firms continue to offer.

Changes taking effect soon include requiring brokerages to list some home offices in regulatory records. New rules will also set up regimes for certain home offices to satisfy requirements for periodic workplace inspections.

While such rules are designed to provide flexibility for remote work, some firms might conclude that the additional compliance hurdles aren’t worth it and summon affected employees back full time. But not all may reach the same conclusion.

Executives at Deutsche Bank AG, for example, have been examining Finra’s requirements and expect that the firm can remain compliant with very limited impact on its work-from-home protocols, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Representatives for Barclays and Deutsche Bank declined to comment. A Finra spokesperson had no immediate comment on what office policies firms might enact as they adjust to the changes.

The majority of financial firms still let workers log on remotely at least part of the week. A survey in early 2023, showed that only 20% of financial-services companies required full-time office attendance. But since then, firms have taken more steps to tighten up their rules.

Last month, Truist told its investment-banking staff that they must work from the office every weekday from June 1. The bank will require other people commuting on a hybrid basis — most of its workforce — to go into the office four days a week starting later this year. The company’s “best work comes from being together,” a spokesperson said at the time.