Cuntz comparison and Jiang–Su absorption

We prove that strict comparison in the extended-functional sense implies Jiang–Su absorption for separable simple nuclear non-elementary C${}^{\ast }$-algebras. This resolves the corresponding implication of the Toms–Winter regularity problem, including nonunital algebras and allowing unbounded traces. More generally, every separable nuclear C${}^{\ast }$-algebra whose Cuntz semigroup is almost unperforated and fully almost divisible absorbs the Jiang–Su algebra.