The Financial Conduct Authority published the Mills Review on 6 July 2026. The review examines how artificial intelligence will reshape UK retail financial services by 2030 and beyond. Sheldon Mills, FCA Executive Director for Consumers and Competition, led the work. The FCA reached its conclusions following a public engagement paper issued in January 2026 and evidence drawn from over 5,000 UK consumers, industry firms, trade bodies, consumer groups, and international regulators. The review is final and represents the FCA's settled position on AI in retail financial services.
The FCA confirmed it will not introduce new AI-specific rules. It will rely on existing obligations under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the FCA Handbook, including Consumer Duty (Policy Statement PS22/9) and Principle 6 (fair treatment of customers). The Consumer Duty requires authorised firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers; the FCA determined this obligation already captures most foreseeable AI-related risks without modification. The FCA also cited Principle 2 (skill, care, and diligence) as applicable to how firms manage AI systems in customer-facing services.
The findings directly affect authorised firms providing retail financial services: banks, insurers, wealth managers, mortgage lenders, and investment platforms. The review identifies fraud amplification from AI-generated impersonation, opaque algorithmic suitability decisions, and AI supply chain cyber vulnerabilities as risks firms must manage within existing Consumer Duty obligations. It also identifies concrete opportunities: reduced advice gaps in the under-served mass market, improved financial crime detection, and lower operational costs from automated processing. Firms should expect supervisory attention to AI governance arrangements during Consumer Duty reviews.
The FCA reserved its position on two matters. First, it may introduce new rules if AI adoption creates systemic market risks not captured by the current outcomes-based regime. Second, the review does not resolve the boundary between regulated financial advice and AI-assisted guidance; that question is a separate FCA workstream. Divergence between the UK's outcomes-based approach and the EU AI Act's risk-classification model also remains unresolved and may require firms active in both markets to manage dual compliance obligations.
Licentium advises authorised firms and their compliance functions on AI governance requirements under the Consumer Duty and the broader FCA Handbook. If your firm is assessing AI-related regulatory exposure or preparing for FCA supervisory engagement on AI deployment, we can assist. Work we undertake includes AI governance reviews, Consumer Duty compliance assessments, AI suitability obligation analysis, and regulatory engagement with the FCA on AI deployment queries.