FCA warns of major shakeup as AI agents meet tokenized money
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has set out a broad plan for retail finance in which autonomous “agentic AI” could move financial services from human-led, episodic decisions to continuous, delegated, automated activity. The report says AI is evolving from predictive tools into agents that can independently manage capital, and that some consumers are already open to AI making financial choices for them. Because autonomous agents need instant, programmable settlement, the report points to stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits as likely infrastructure for AI-driven finance, since traditional banking rails are too slow for machine-speed transactions. It also warns that this creates major governance and accountability risks, especially over who is legally responsible for AI actions. The FCA recommends building foundations for “agentic finance,” developing trusted agent protocols, and expanding its AI Lab to support innovation. Regulators are urged to treat agentic AI as an immediate accountability issue while enabling responsible experimentation.
