The UK's Financial Conduct Authority published The Mills Review, described as the first regulator-led strategic review of artificial intelligence in retail financial services, warning that AI will fundamentally reshape how consumers invest, borrow and manage money by the end of the decade. The review, commissioned by the FCA Board and led by Executive Director Sheldon Mills, concludes that AI will become a defining force across retail financial services as consumers embrace agentic financial services. The report identifies significant opportunities for firms and consumers while introducing new risks around fraud, cybercrime, market concentration and consumer protection, making it one of the first comprehensive regulatory roadmaps globally examining how AI could reshape financial markets through 2030 and beyond.
FCA Survey Finds 20% of UK Consumers Willing to Use Agentic AI
Research commissioned by the FCA found that approximately 20% of UK consumers, equivalent to around 11 million adults, would be willing to use agentic AI capable of acting autonomously within predefined objectives. Examples include AI systems that could automatically manage savings and investments, switch financial products, optimize household budgets, execute transactions within user-defined limits, and monitor financial goals without continuous user intervention. While respondents expressed strong interest in these capabilities, the survey also found widespread concerns regarding trust, transparency and maintaining meaningful human control over autonomous financial agents.
Mills Review Identifies Four Structural Shifts in Financial Services
The Mills Review identifies four major structural shifts that regulators and firms should prepare for over the coming years. According to the FCA, AI will not simply improve existing processes but fundamentally change how consumers interact with financial products, how firms compete for customers and how regulators supervise increasingly autonomous markets.
The four structural changes are:
- Firm operations: Greater automation across financial institutions
- Consumer journeys: AI-assisted and autonomous financial decision making
- Competition: Changes in market structure and concentration
- Risk landscape: Growing fraud, cyber and operational risks
FCA Warns AI Could Amplify Fraud and Cybercrime Risks
The regulator warns that increasingly capable AI systems could amplify investment scams, identity fraud, deepfake-enabled financial crime, cyber attacks, operational failures, and market concentration around a small number of AI providers. The FCA argues that regulators will need new supervisory capabilities to monitor increasingly autonomous financial systems while ensuring firms continue to meet existing consumer protection obligations.
FCA Issues Seven Strategic Recommendations
The review sets out seven strategic recommendations for the FCA Board and Executive:
- Secure and adapt the regulatory perimeter
- Strengthen system-wide coordination
- Monitor the transition toward autonomous financial models
- Expand the FCA's AI Lab
- Create the foundations for agentic finance
- Develop AI-enabled supervisory capabilities
- Build a trusted public-interest AI financial capability service
Several recommendations build on initiatives the FCA has already launched, including its AI Lab, AI Live Testing programme and Supercharged Sandbox developed with NVIDIA.
FCA Consumer Duty Framework Remains Central to AI Oversight
According to FCA Chair Ashley Alder, the regulator's Consumer Duty and Senior Managers & Certification Regime already provide firms with clear accountability for AI deployment. The report suggests these frameworks should evolve alongside technological development rather than be replaced by technology-specific legislation. Rather than proposing an entirely new AI rulebook, the FCA argues that its existing principles-based regulatory framework provides a strong foundation for supervising artificial intelligence.
FAQ
What did the FCA publish regarding AI in financial services?
The FCA published The Mills Review, described as the first regulator-led strategic review of artificial intelligence in retail financial services. The review was commissioned by the FCA Board and led by Executive Director Sheldon Mills, examining how AI could reshape financial markets through 2030 and beyond.
How many UK consumers are willing to use agentic AI for financial decisions?
Research commissioned by the FCA found that approximately 20% of UK consumers, equivalent to around 11 million adults, would be willing to use agentic AI capable of acting autonomously within predefined objectives such as managing savings, switching financial products, and optimizing household budgets.
What risks does the FCA identify with AI adoption in financial services?
The FCA warns that increasingly capable AI systems could amplify investment scams, identity fraud, deepfake-enabled financial crime, cyber attacks, operational failures, and market concentration around a small number of AI providers. The regulator argues that new supervisory capabilities will be needed to monitor increasingly autonomous financial systems.
