Global: FCA opens review on the future impact of advanced AI in financial services

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a wide-ranging review into the implications of advanced artificial intelligence for consumers, retail financial markets, and regulators, as the use of AI continues to accelerate across the financial services sector.

The review, to be led by Sheldon Mills, builds on the FCA’s ongoing work on AI, including its AI Discussion Paper, AI Sprint initiatives, and the AI Lab, which features AI Live Testing and the Supercharged Sandbox supported by Nvidia.

According to the regulator, rapid developments in generative, agentic, and emerging forms of AI could mark a turning point for financial services. These technologies have the potential to reshape markets, alter competitive dynamics among firms, and change how consumers access and use retail financial products.

Mills said AI is already influencing financial services, but its long-term impact could be far more significant.

“AI is already shaping financial services, but its longer-term effects may be more far-reaching. This review will examine how emerging uses of AI could affect consumers, markets, and firms as we look towards 2030 and beyond,” he said.

He added that the forward-looking approach would help the FCA continue to encourage innovation while ensuring the safe, responsible, and trusted adoption of AI across retail financial markets.

The review will explore how AI may evolve in the coming years, including the rise of more autonomous and agentic systems, and assess how these developments could influence firm behaviour, market structures, and competition.

It will also examine the implications for consumers, both in terms of how AI may shape consumer decision-making and how changing consumer expectations could, in turn, affect financial markets. In addition, the FCA will consider how regulatory frameworks and supervisory approaches may need to adapt to keep pace with AI-driven change.

The FCA is inviting input from financial services firms, consumer groups, technology providers, and academic experts. Feedback from the review will inform a set of recommendations to be presented to the FCA Board in the summer of 2026, followed by a public report.