The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to offer a service where companies under its watch can test out artificial intelligence (AI) tools before they go live.
Firms are currently being slowed down in their development and deployment of AI due to the lack of such a testing environment, said the FCA, which is “seeking views from firms about how its live AI testing service can help them to deploy safe and responsible AI, which will benefit UK consumers and markets”.
The proposed service will run for 12 to 18 months, with a plan to launch in September 2025, providing regulatory support to firms that are ready to deploy consumer or market-facing AI models.
A live testing service is currently not part of the FCA AI Lab, but through the proposed service, financial services firms would be able to collaborate with the regulator as they check whether their AI developments are ready.
The testing will also give the FCA vital intelligence and a better understanding of how AI could impact the financial markets.
Jessica Rusu, the FCA’s chief data, intelligence and information officer, said: “Under our new strategy, we’ve committed to being increasingly tech positive to support growth. We want financial firms and their customers to benefit from AI, so we’re providing a safe space to test how they plan to use it.”
Embracing tech
According to the FCA, the proposal builds on its “five-year strategy, which sets out how the regulator will support growth by enabling innovation and ensuring the continued competitiveness of the UK’s world-leading financial services through a tech-positive approach. It will also support the FCA to be a smarter regulator by embracing data and technology to be more effective and efficient.”
AI is being adopted rapidly by banks, which are using it in areas such as customer service and software development. The technology holds huge potential benefits, but also introduces risks to financial markets.
Bank of England figures recently revealed that 75% of finance firms are already using AI, with a further 10% planning to use it over the next three years.
At an international financial conference in Hong Kong last year, Sarah Breeden, deputy governor of financial stability at the Bank of England, said regulation must stay ahead of AI take-up.
“AI is expected to bring considerable potential benefits for productivity and growth in the financial sector and the rest of the economy,” she said. “But for the financial sector to harness those benefits, we, as financial regulators, must have policy frameworks that are designed to manage any risks to financial stability that come with them. Economic stability underpins growth and prosperity. It would be self-defeating to allow AI to undermine it.”
Breeden added: “We don’t want to be left in the position of choosing between, on the one hand, letting a powerful new technology threaten financial stability, and on the other, preventing its use and losing out on growth and innovation – simply because we don’t have the policy frameworks to enable its safe adoption.”
Separately, the Parliamentary Treasury Committee has called on consumers, finance firms and IT suppliers to provide evidence to support an inquiry into the use of AI technology in the finance sector.
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