No new AI rules for UK banks and insurers: FCA
Key Points
- The FCA has confirmed it will not introduce new regulations for AI in financial services, relying instead on existing frameworks including the Consumer Duty and the SM&CR.
- The regulator is questioning firms on how they govern AI, test models, ensure fair treatment of vulnerable customers, and explain AI-driven decisions.
- The FCA will publish examples of good and poor AI practice later this year.
- Its AI Input Zone survey, gathering views from industry, closes on 19 June 2026.
- The independent Mills Review into the long-term impact of AI is due to be published in the summer.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed it will not introduce new regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence by financial services firms, and will instead rely on existing frameworks to oversee the technology.
In a blog post published on Monday (8 June), Alex Smith, the FCA’s Head of Cross-cutting Policy and Strategy, said the regulator would lean on rules already in place, including the Consumer Duty, the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR), and its existing expectations on governance and controls.
“We have been clear that we are not going to introduce new regulations for AI,” Smith said.
He said firms are using AI to drive efficiency, support decision-making and deliver better outcomes for consumers and markets, and that the FCA wants to support that innovation, provided it is “safe, responsible and well governed”.
Smith said the regulator recognised that AI can raise new and practical questions, and that it is speaking to firms on topics including how they oversee and govern AI, how they test models and monitor outcomes, how they ensure fair treatment for customers with features of vulnerability, and how they explain AI-driven decisions.
The FCA said it will share examples of good and poor practice on these questions later this year to support firms in adopting AI safely and responsibly.
Smith added that industry engagement was central to that work, and that the regulator wanted firms to tell it what is working well, where they are facing challenges, and where further clarity would help. He said this would help the FCA build “an evidence-led view of AI in financial services”.
New AI input zone
To gather those views, the regulator has launched its AI Input Zone online survey, which allows stakeholders to share AI use cases, highlight challenges or barriers, indicate where further clarity would help, and contribute to the FCA’s understanding of emerging risks. The AI Input Zone closes on 19 June 2026.
Smith said the survey forms part of the regulator’s wider AI Lab, which is intended to deepen its understanding of the risks and opportunities AI presents to UK consumers and markets.
Components of the AI Lab include the Supercharged Sandbox, which provides access to high-performance computing, enriched datasets and AI tools to develop and test early-stage ideas; AI Live Testing, which gives firms a space to test AI systems in real-world conditions with regulatory oversight; the AI Spotlight, which showcases how firms are experimenting with AI; and events including the AI Sprint and a session aimed at smaller firms.
Smith said applications for the second cohort of the Supercharged Sandbox are being considered, and that the second cohort of AI Live Testing has launched, with a report summarising the regulator’s learnings to be published early next year.
He added that the independent Mills Review, which is examining the long-term impact of AI, will be published in the summer.
“AI is evolving quickly and no single organisation has all the answers,” Smith said. “We need this to be a two-way street.” He said that by engaging with the regulator, stakeholders could help shape what safe and responsible AI adoption looks like in UK financial services, and that the FCA would in turn share what it learns with the market.
