Wealth management AI operates outside regulatory oversight, and the UK FCA plans to expand its jurisdiction to govern AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic.

According to Beating monitoring, Sheldon Mills, Executive Director of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), warned that as businesses and individuals accelerate their adoption of AI, regulators are facing a “race to catch up” with the pace and scale of AI rollout in the financial services industry.

In an AI financial impact report authored by Mills, it is noted that one-fifth of British adults are willing to let large models make their savings or lending decisions. Such services feel equivalent to regulated traditional financial advice, but because they operate outside the regulatory boundary, users are unable to receive any financial compensation when they suffer losses.

The report calls for an urgent review of the risks posed by unregulated financial AI, and for authorities to expand legislative powers to strengthen oversight of key technology providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft through a “critical third party” mechanism (the UK government has not yet finalized the specific list). It also recommends collaborating to roll out free public financial literacy and decision-making guidance services supported by AI.