The FCA launches Mills Review on AI in retail financial services

On 27 January 2026, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched the Mills Review, examining how artificial intelligence (AI) may affect retail financial services over the longer term. The Review will consider how technological developments, including more autonomous and interconnected AI systems, could influence market structure, firms’ operations, consumer behaviour and regulatory approaches by 2030 and beyond.

This follows a period of increased political and parliamentary interest in the use of AI in financial services.

The FCA’s Engagement Paper, published as part of the Review, highlights four areas of focus:

1. how AI could evolve in the future;
2. how these developments could affect markets and firms;
3. the impact on consumers; and
4. how financial regulators may need to evolve to continue ensuring that retail financial markets work well.

One specific area of attention is agentic AI, with the FCA noting that by 2030, consumers may increasingly interact with financial services through AI‑mediated interfaces rather than directly with firms. This presents opportunities for firms and consumers, but may also compress margins on traditional advice and raise questions around suitability, transparency and potential market herding if many consumers rely on similar AI systems.

The FCA also considers AI‑related risks within a broader technology ecosystem and the wider context of digital finance, positioning AI as a cross‑cutting policy issue that has implications for how firms design their governance frameworks to manage risks associated with AI.

On the competition side, the FCA notes that increased delegation by consumers of financial decisions to AI agents could encourage firms to develop new value propositions, but could also create new forms of market power if AI providers favour certain firms or if personalisation contributes to consumer lock‑in. The FCA is assessing the entire AI value chain, including actors outside its current regulatory perimeter.

At this stage, the FCA does not propose new prescriptive rules, but is considering how existing outcomes‑based frameworks – including the Consumer Duty, the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, Operational Resilience and the Critical Third Parties regime –  may need to be adapted as AI changes the pace, scale and nature of markets, firms and consumer experiences.

The Review aims to develop recommendations that will help ensure the FCA remains prepared, adaptive and able to support an innovative UK financial services sector. It will be important for firms and other stakeholders to consider the themes of the Review carefully and provide relevant evidence and input to inform the direction of debate and the future regulatory approach. The FCA has invited input from stakeholders by 24 February 2026.

We have considered these developments in further detail and set out our perspective on the most significant themes emerging from the Review in the following briefing The FCA looks to 2030: Key takeaways from the Mills Review on AI in retail financial services.