IA comment on The Mills Review

Commenting on the publication of the Financial Conduct Authority's The Mills Review, John Allan, Director, Innovation and Operations Unit and Director, Engine at the Investment Association, said:

“The Mills Review provides a timely assessment of how artificial intelligence is already reshaping the way investment services are designed and delivered to retail investors – and how rapidly this change is likely to accelerate over the rest of the decade.

“For investment managers, AI is enhancing research, streamlining operations, improving client engagement and supporting better outcomes for investors. Combined with innovations such as tokenisation and distributed ledger technology, it can drive significant improvements in efficiency, accessibility and personalisation across the investment value chain – provided it is deployed in ways that sustain trust.

“We welcome the Review’s focus on the critical questions this pace of change raises for the UK’s framework – from how regulation should respond when AI systems perform functions that look and feel like advice or intermediation, to how supervision needs to evolve for a more technologically enhanced financial system. As AI increasingly influences the information people use to make financial decisions, rules on disclosure and fairness will need to work throughout these AI-driven journeys as well as on firms' web page.

“The FCA’s commitment to secure the perimeter, scale up its AI Lab and develop AI‑enabled supervisory tools is therefore especially important. The Investment Association and our members stand ready to work with the FCA to translate these proposals into practical expectations and tools, so that firms can keep pace with technological change while maintaining the trust on which long‑term saving and investing ultimately depends.”