FCA Launches Forward-Looking Review on the Impact of Advanced AI in Financial Services

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a major review examining how advanced artificial intelligence could shape consumers, retail financial markets and regulation in the years ahead.

The review will be led by Sheldon Mills and builds on the FCA’s extensive work on artificial intelligence, including its AI Discussion Paper, AI Sprint, AI Lab initiatives, live AI testing, and the groundbreaking Supercharged Sandbox developed in partnership with NVIDIA.

AI is already deeply embedded across financial services. However, rapid advances in generative, agentic and emerging AI technologies signal that the next phase of transformation could be profound — reshaping markets, redefining competition, and changing how consumers engage with retail financial services.

Looking Towards 2030 and Beyond

“AI is already shaping financial services, but its longer-term effects may be far-reaching. This review will explore how emerging uses of AI could influence consumers, markets and firms, looking towards 2030 and beyond.”

“By taking a forward-looking approach, we aim to support innovation while promoting the safe and trusted adoption of AI in retail financial services.”

— Sheldon Mills, FCA

Key Areas of Focus

As part of the review, the FCA is seeking views on four closely connected themes:

• The future evolution of AI: including the rise of more autonomous and agentic AI systems.
• Market and firm impacts: how AI could change competition, market structures and the UK’s global competitiveness.
• Consumer outcomes: how AI may influence consumer behaviour, expectations and decision-making — and how consumers may increasingly shape markets in return.
• The future of regulation: how financial regulators may need to adapt to ensure retail financial markets continue to work well.

While wholesale markets and broader societal impacts are outside the formal scope of this review, the FCA recognises that developments in these areas may indirectly affect retail financial services and will be considered where relevant. In parallel, the FCA is undertaking extensive work on AI in wholesale markets, including live testing initiatives.

Shaping the Future of AI Regulation

Feedback gathered through the review will inform a set of recommendations to be presented to the FCA Board in summer 2026. These insights will help guide how the FCA responds to AI-driven transformation and supports safe innovation across the financial sector.

The review will conclude with an external publication, providing clarity and direction for firms, innovators and consumers navigating the future of AI in financial services.

The deadline for comments is Tuesday, 24 February 2026.