FCA called for strengthened powers of Britain's regulator to protect against AI risks

FCA called for strengthening the powers of Britain's regulator to protect against AI risks

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) — the regulator of financial services in Great Britain — published a review on July 6, 2026, which the publication The Guardian calls "landmark," and called on ministers to expand the authority's powers to protect consumers from AI risks, including increased fraud and cybercrime.

What the FCA review found

The review, titled Mills review, examines how technologies will change financial services in Britain "from 2030 and beyond." FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) — the main regulator of financial services in Great Britain, responsible for oversight of banks, insurance companies and investment companies in London's City and for consumer protection. According to the agency, companies are already beginning to transition from services with human involvement to AI-based services for everyday retail clients — routine operations that were previously performed by bank and insurance company employees are gradually being taken over by automation.

• Review is called Mills review and was prepared for Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• The Guardian characterizes it as a "landmark" review
• Analysis horizon — transformation of British financial services "from 2030 and beyond"
• FCA records the transition of companies from services with human involvement to AI services for retail clients
• Material was published by The Guardian on July 6, 2026

What risks the regulator sees

The key risk named in the FCA review published on July 6, 2026, is increased cybercrime and fraud as financial services transition to AI. It is precisely because of these risks that the authors of the review insist that Britain's ministers expand the powers of the city regulator — otherwise, the FCA will not have sufficient tools to respond to new fraud schemes built on AI technologies. This is not a hypothetical threat, but a process that, according to the agency, is already underway: routine consumer services are being converted to AI faster than the rules for overseeing them are changing.

The review itself does not disclose specific fraud mechanisms, but directly names the increase in these risks as one of the reasons why the city regulator needs broader powers.

"It is necessary to expand the powers of the city regulator to protect

British consumers from AI" — this is how The Guardian transmits the main conclusion of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) review.

What this means

The FCA review shows that British regulators are preparing for a scenario in which retail financial services — from everyday banking to insurance — are increasingly moving to AI, and with this, fraud risks are growing. So far this is an appeal to ministers, not a ready-made law, but it sets the agenda for future rules on AI work in Britain's financial sector: the faster companies implement AI in customer service, the more acute, in the opinion of FCA, the question becomes about the regulator's powers to respond to new risks. For ordinary consumers, this means that familiar financial services will increasingly run on AI before new protection rules take effect — it is precisely this gap between technologies and regulation that the FCA review is trying to close.