Bank of England highlights AI’s potential threats to financial stability

As the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee scrutinizes the integration of advanced AI technologies in trading and investment activities, it has raised concerns about the stability of the financial system.

The rapid adoption of AI by market participants globally, involving investments worth billions of dollars, has spurred regulatory bodies to find a balance between fostering innovation and mitigating potential risks, according to Finextra.

One significant risk identified by the Committee involves flaws in AI models or the data they use, which could lead to incorrect measurements or interpretations of a company’s financial exposures. Moreover, the common reliance on a limited number of open-source or vendor-supplied models and datasets may lead to correlated trading behaviors among firms, potentially amplifying market shocks during periods of stress.

Another concern highlighted is the dependency on a small group of vendors for critical AI services, posing systemic risks if there’s a disruption. The Committee illustrated a scenario where a major outage in vendor-provided AI models could disrupt essential services, like time-sensitive financial transactions, underscoring the need for robust risk monitoring and contingency planning.

The Committee also noted that while AI can enhance efforts to counter cyber threats, it might also empower malicious entities to launch sophisticated attacks against financial infrastructures. Therefore, continuous monitoring and potentially enhanced mitigative measures are deemed crucial to ensure that AI’s integration into the financial sector does not inadvertently increase vulnerabilities.

“The effective monitoring of AI-related risks is essential to understand whether additional risk mitigations might be warranted in support of safe innovation, what they might be, and at what point they may become appropriate,” the Committee writes, emphasizing the necessity of vigilant oversight in the evolving landscape of financial technologies.

Keep up with all the latest RegTech news here

Copyright © 2025 RegTech Analyst

Enjoyed the story? 

Subscribe to our weekly RegTech newsletter and get the latest industry news & research

Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst

Investors

The following investor(s) were tagged in this article.