CII response to FCA Mills Review

The review will be led by Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, and builds on its existing work on AI.

The FCA is seeking views on four interrelated themes: 

1. How AI could evolve in the future, including the development of more autonomous and agentic systems.
2. How these developments could affect markets and firms, including changes to competition and market structure and UK competitiveness.
3. The impact on consumers, including how consumers will be influenced by AI but also influence financial markets through new expectations.
4. How financial regulators may need to evolve to continue ensuring that retail financial markets work well.

The CII’s response centres around good consumer outcomes, and the requirement of both human and technological capacities. The CII Professional Map is clear that AI can enhance many of the behaviours and technical skills that consumers need from financial services, while people will be required to apply behaviours such as curiosity, customer focus and ethical thinking in order to effectively manage AI.

The CII outlines that professional bodies have a role to play, in collaboration with government and regulators, to ensure that the shift between consumer agency and delegation to AI is focussed on consumer outcomes. It highlights the benefits and risks of AI use, particularly to vulnerable customers, pointing to the CII guidance on ‘Data infrastructure and governance required for AI vulnerability management’.

Read the CII’s full response here.