RTO Effort Gets Unlikely New Ally As SEC, FINRA Step Up Security Safeguards The slow slog back to the office may get a boost from a source usually blamed for holding business back: financial regulators. Regulatory decisions from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are playing into the decisions of major banks to bring some workers back to the office every day. These moves are being made even though the full extent of what compliance would mean is still unknown. “With the expiration of FINRA's Covid-related relief on May 31, approximately 600 Citi colleagues who previously performed certain activities outside an office environment will now be required to work full-time from a Citi office location going forward,” a Citi spokesperson told Bisnow in an email. 
The agency had rolled back some security restrictions in the early days of the pandemic to facilitate remote work. Those rules are now reverting.In the four years since the first lockdowns, office use has not come close to pre-pandemic levels. Last week, office usage was 51% of pre-pandemic… Read the full story here. | 
