(Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Barclays Plc are ordering more employees to report to company offices five days a week as regulatory changes make it harder for Wall Street to allow work from home.
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Citigroup is requiring about 600 U.S. employees previously eligible to work remotely to commute to the company’s offices full time, the New York-based company said in a statement Thursday. Still, most employees can continue their hybrid schedules, working up to two days a week outside the office, he said.
At HSBC, the regulatory changes affect about 530 employees in New York — about half its workforce in the city — and the bank is talking to them about its options, said Mabel Rius, head of human resources for the U.S. and Americas, in an interview. . The company is trying to allow as many people as possible the option to log in from home if they wish, Rius said. HSBC’s regional head said he may avoid a blanket five-day mandate for all employees.
Barclays will require thousands of investment banking employees around the world to spend five days a week in the office or traveling to see clients, starting June 1, the bank said in a memo late on Thursday. The decision – after Bloomberg reported that the bank was considering a five-day mandate for more US employees – coincides with “new regulatory policies”, he said.
“Being together in the office drives innovation, collaboration and a stronger culture,” wrote Cathal Deasy and Taylor Wright, the firm’s global co-heads of investment banking. “We remain committed to flexible working and recognize that there will be times when it will be necessary to work from home,” they said, adding that group heads have discretion to allow occasional flexible working when necessary.
Banks are known for being among the most flexible on Wall Street in allowing employees to continue working remotely after the pandemic. The changes come as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority — the U.S. brokerage industry’s top watchdog — prepares to reinstate pre-pandemic rules for monitoring workplaces in the coming weeks.
That could mean the end of remote work for many bankers and some other traders, as bosses conclude that allowing the practice under Finra’s framework is not worth the effort or cost. Companies like Deutsche Bank AG have been weighing the burden as they weigh changes to their own policies.
With some bosses blaming Finra rules for a new series of five-day mandates, regulators have hit back, saying they are actually trying to allow more flexibility — not less.
Read more: Wall Street’s five-day office rules aren’t our fault, Finra says
The tension stems from U.S. requirements that banks monitor staff and facilitate periodic workplace inspections. When Covid-19 broke out, regulators initially relaxed some of their rules to ensure people could work from home. Some of these accommodations are now ready for sunset.
While Finra said the changes don’t require companies to call employees into offices five days a week, it acknowledged that compliance takes work.
Some home offices will have to be listed by regulators as so-called “home supervision locations.” A pilot program for these sites establishes a system to inspect them remotely at least every three years, starting in July. Privately, some executives said that keeping up with requirements can be costly to preserve an employee’s ability to log on from the comfort of home.
Companies may ultimately reach different conclusions. Other banks are considering a five-day mandate for some employees, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this week.
At Deutsche Bank, executives hope the company can remain compliant with limited impact on its protocols, according to a person with knowledge of their thinking. Last month, Truist Financial Corp. told investment bank employees that they must work in the office every day of the week starting June 1.
Some of Wall Street’s biggest banks — such as Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. — have already adopted five-day office commutes for many of their desks, at least in practice, if not as rules. But some smaller franchises have touted the flexibility, which could give them an edge in recruiting and retaining talent.
—With help from Ambereen Choudhury.
(Updates with Barclays return-to-office policy from fourth paragraph.)
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