FiSolve Weekly News Digest (January 31, 2025)

Here is what we are reading in the news this week.?

?

Buyouts Offered to Federal Workers

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to all federal employees stating that recent directives by President Trump are designed to require (1) federal employees return to in-person work, (2) restore accountability for employees who have policy-making authority, (3) restore accountability for senior career executives, and (4) reform the federal hiring process to focus on merit.? Effective through February 6, 2025, the email offers a deferred resignation program, where employees who chose to voluntarily resign will retain all pay and benefits and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025.? Read more at https://www.opm.gov/fork. ?

?

Extension of Form PF Amendments Compliance Date

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission , extended the compliance date for the amendments to Form PF that were adopted on Feb. 8, 2024. ?The compliance date for these amendments, which was originally March 12, 2025, has been extended to June 12, 2025.? Read more at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-33.

?

FINRA Publishes 2025 Regulatory Oversight Report

FINRA published its 2025 FINRA Regulatory Oversight Report, which includes observations from across FINRA’s Member Supervision, Market Regulation and Enforcement programs.? The report highlights third-party risk, new topics and includes observations regarding cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, investment fraud and more.? Access the report at https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/guidance/reports/2025-finra-annual-regulatory-oversight-report.?

?

Hiring Hits a Five-Year Low in December; Finance not Spared

A report by BambooHR finds the end of the fourth quarter of 2024 was marked by a significant decrease in turnover and hiring globally, with hiring hitting a five-year low. In the US, these trends are mirrored, with turnover dropping to 2020 levels and hiring reaching its lowest point in the last five years.? The finance industry saw month-over-month hiring decrease by 19% in December.? Access the report at https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/data-at-work/workforce-insights/dec-2024.?

?

Federal Court Orders Forex Company and its Owner to Pay $685,000 For Foreign Currency Fraud

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the Southern District of Florida entered orders of default final judgement against a Forex company and its owner relating to the CFTC’s allegations of fraudulently soliciting at least four clients to trade leveraged or margined retail off-exchange foreign currency (forex).? The order includes financial penalties and permanently enjoins the defendants from engaging in conduct that violates the Commodity Exchange Act and permanently bans them from registering with the CFTC and from trading in any CFTC-regulated markets.? Read more https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9039-25.?

?

Valuation Expectations Still Holding Back the IPO market

PitchBook is reporting initial public offerings of US venture-backed companies remained few and far between in 2024, and 2025 is shaping up to be about as sparse.? This prolonged and sluggish recovery since 2021’s IPO boom comes even as interest rates have started to decline, and the broader stock market continues its rally. ?According to the report, analysts attribute this trend to lofty late-stage valuation multiples that appear far above what IPO investors are willing to pay for them.? Read more at https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q1-2025-pitchbook-analyst-note-us-vc-backed-ipo-expectations.?

?

FCA Issues First Fine for Transaction Reporting Failures under MiFIR

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined a firm for failing to submit 46,053 transaction reports.? The FCA noted this failure risks market abuse going undetected.? The FCA has previously fined a number of firms for transaction reporting failures. This is the first enforcement action, however, against a firm for a breach of transaction reporting requirements since they became law under the UK Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR).? Read more at https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/final-notices/infinox-2025.pdf.

?

?

For informational purposes only.? Subscription may be required.

?