Source: UK Financial Conduct Authority — 2026-07-06
Summary
The FCA published the "Mills Review" — led by executive director Sheldon Mills — examining how AI, including agentic AI, will reshape UK retail financial services, described as the first review of its kind initiated by any financial regulator globally. It calls for expanded regulatory authority over the AI models underpinning consumer finance.
Key Takeaways
- Commissioned research found roughly 11 million UK adults, a fifth of the population, are likely to use autonomous, goal-directed AI for personal finance.
- Mills called for the FCA to gain power to potentially regulate LLM providers (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) directly via the UK's "critical third parties" regime.
- Seven recommendations issued, including scaling the FCA's AI Lab and building an "AI-enabled agentic supervisory model."
- The report flags an AI "arms race" risk among providers and amplified fraud/cyber exposure as AI-driven consumer finance journeys become continuous rather than episodic.