UK regulator warns of “arms race” to keep up with AI use in financial services

英国监管机构警告：金融服务业人工智能应用正引发“军备竞赛”

Regulators are in an “arms race” to keep up with the use of artificial intelligence in financial services, a senior UK official has warned, with millions of people using the technology to help them make personal finance decisions. 英国一位高级官员警告称，监管机构正处于一场“军备竞赛”中，以跟上人工智能在金融服务领域的应用步伐，目前已有数百万人正在使用该技术来辅助个人理财决策。

Sheldon Mills, an executive director at the Financial Conduct Authority, told the FT the watchdog would need greater powers to stay on top of the rapid growth of AI and urged UK authorities to review whether the use of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other large language models should be subject to their rules. 英国金融行为监管局（FCA）执行董事谢尔顿·米尔斯（Sheldon Mills）向《金融时报》表示，监管机构需要更大的权力来掌控人工智能的快速增长，并敦促英国当局重新评估是否应将 ChatGPT、Claude、Gemini 及其他大语言模型的使用纳入监管范围。

Speaking ahead of the publication on Monday of an FCA-commissioned report he has written on the impact of AI in financial services, Mills said regulators in the area would have to embrace AI themselves to keep up with the “speed, pace, and scale of change” the technology is bringing to the sector and to help “monitor, detect, and tackle the risks.” “It is an arms race,” he added. 在周一发布由他撰写、FCA 委托的关于人工智能对金融服务影响的报告前，米尔斯表示，该领域的监管机构必须主动拥抱人工智能，以跟上该技术为行业带来的“变革速度、节奏和规模”，并借此“监测、发现和应对风险”。他补充道：“这是一场军备竞赛。”

Mills’ report identifies benefits and risks from increasing use of AI in financial services. “Hyper-personalization could help better match products to needs, but also enable bias, opaque pricing, and personalized manipulation,” it says, according to a summary seen by the FT. 米尔斯的报告指出了金融服务中日益增长的人工智能应用所带来的机遇与风险。据《金融时报》看到的一份摘要显示，报告称：“超个性化服务有助于更好地匹配产品与需求，但也可能导致偏见、定价不透明以及个性化操纵。”

It recommends the FCA carries out a review in the next three to six months to examine the risks of companies providing financial services outside the remit of the regulator as well as “consumer harm” from the increasingly popular use of AI models for managing people’s personal finances. 报告建议 FCA 在未来三到六个月内进行审查，以评估公司在监管范围之外提供金融服务的风险，以及因人工智能模型在个人理财管理中日益普及而可能导致的“消费者损害”。

Research commissioned by Mills found a fifth of UK adults were already open to using AI models to make financial decisions for them, such as on savings or borrowing, even though they are not covered by regulation and there is no recourse to compensation if things go wrong. 由米尔斯委托进行的研究发现，五分之一的英国成年人已经愿意使用人工智能模型来替他们做出财务决策（如储蓄或借贷），尽管这些模型目前不受监管，且一旦出现问题也无法获得赔偿。

“Some firms have said to us that they feel that this could be an economically equivalent type of service that isn’t regulated [and] sits outside of the regulatory perimeter,” he said, pointing out there were “reasonably strict” rules for regulated companies giving similar recommendations. “Is the fact that the chat model might be able to respond to prompts and have a conversation something closer to a recommendation, or guidance?” he asked. “一些公司向我们反映，他们认为这可能是一种经济上等效但不受监管的服务，且处于监管范围之外，”他说道，并指出受监管公司在提供类似建议时需遵守“相当严格”的规则。他反问道：“聊天模型能够响应提示并进行对话，这究竟更接近于一种建议，还是指导？”

But he also said AI could “democratize” finance by widening access to sophisticated services currently only available to the richest customers. He said people earning only £20,000 a year could gain access to financial advice usually only available “to somebody who has got £10mn in savings or assets,” adding: “I mean what’s not to like about that?” 但他同时也表示，人工智能可以通过扩大对复杂金融服务的获取渠道，从而实现金融“民主化”，而这些服务目前仅限于最富有的客户。他指出，年收入仅 2 万英镑的人群也能获得通常只有“拥有 1000 万英镑储蓄或资产的人”才能享受的财务建议，并补充道：“我的意思是，这有什么不好呢？”

His report recommends the FCA convenes public and private sector groups to develop an “AI-enabled financial capability service” that provides free information and guidance to the British public on their financial choices. 他的报告建议 FCA 召集公共和私营部门团体，开发一种“人工智能赋能的金融能力服务”，为英国公众提供有关财务选择的免费信息和指导。

Many financial services companies are already piloting AI agents that can autonomously carry out financial transactions for companies and consumers. Mills, who is leaving after eight years at the FCA, said managers would still need to be accountable for the actions of their AI models. “You need a human on the hook for what they’re doing,” he said. 许多金融服务公司已经在试用能够为公司和消费者自主执行金融交易的 AI 代理。在 FCA 工作八年后即将离职的米尔斯表示，管理者仍需对其人工智能模型的行为负责。“你必须有人为它们的所作所为承担责任，”他说。

AI is likely to “amplify” the threat of fraud and cyber attacks, the report says, calling for the technology to be used to defend the system from such threats. “Deepfakes, synthetic identities, and personalized social engineering are taking fraud and cyber risks into a new era and changing how fraud and cyber attacks,” it says. 报告称，人工智能可能会“放大”欺诈和网络攻击的威胁，并呼吁利用该技术来保护系统免受此类威胁。“深度伪造、合成身份和个性化社会工程学正将欺诈和网络风险带入一个新时代，并改变着欺诈和网络攻击的方式，”报告写道。

Mills’ report also recommends boosting the FCA’s powers under the “critical third parties” regime that allows it to supervise key technology providers to the financial sector, such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. 米尔斯的报告还建议加强 FCA 在“关键第三方”制度下的权力，该制度允许其监管金融行业的关键技术提供商，如 Anthropic、OpenAI、亚马逊、谷歌和微软。

The government is yet to decide which Big Tech groups to designate under the regime, which allows regulators to impose more robust disclosure requirements, including annual self-assessments and “scenario testing” of their ability to withstand severe disruptions. 政府尚未决定将哪些大型科技集团纳入该制度。该制度允许监管机构施加更严格的披露要求，包括年度自我评估以及对其抵御严重干扰能力的“情景测试”。

The report says the FCA could also seek extra powers under the “designated activities regime” that allows it to regulate specific activities without requiring the firms carrying them out to be authorized. The FCA board is due to discuss the report from Mills before deciding how to respond to its recommendations. 报告称，FCA 还可能寻求在“指定活动制度”下获得额外权力，该制度允许其监管特定活动，而无需对执行这些活动的公司进行授权。FCA 董事会将在决定如何回应这些建议之前，讨论米尔斯的这份报告。

The watchdog has been criticized by some politicians for a 12-week contract it agreed with US tech group Palantir to test whether its AI systems can help fight financial crime. Some MPs have raised concerns the contract could give US authorities access to sensitive UK financial information. The FCA and Palantir have denied this. Mills declined to comment on the Palantir contract. 该监管机构因与美国科技集团 Palantir 签署了一份为期 12 周的合同（旨在测试其 AI 系统是否能帮助打击金融犯罪）而受到一些政界人士的批评。一些议员担心该合同可能使美国当局能够获取英国的敏感金融信息。FCA 和 Palantir 对此予以否认。米尔斯拒绝就 Palantir 合同发表评论。