EU AI Act Summit - 6 February 2024

The EU AI Act is the first comprehensive model for the regulation of AI to be introduced internationally (other than China’s AI regulation, which has a different objective). It takes a prescriptive, rules-based approach and covers both the providers and users of AI technologies. It is extra-territorial in its reach, although how this might be enforced is not yet clear. In recognition of how quickly AI technology is developing, those drafting the legislation have tried to build in a degree of flexibility, but this is likely to be limited by the fact that it is rules-based.

This event explored how AI is currently being deployed in the financial services industry and considers potential future applications as the technology matures. The use cases that will be discussed include: the potential for combining AI and blockchain in fund management, integrating Chat GPT safely into an FS company, improving customer service through AI, harnessing AI to fight fraud and financial crime, and using AI in underwriting risk for insurers.

This Summit focused on the programme analyses in detail the implications for businesses of the UK’s pro-innovation regulatory approach, the EU’s ‘top down’ AI Regulation and the U.S.’s emerging regulatory strategy, as well as the moves towards establishing a global regulator. There will also be deep dives into the most important legal issues, including data privacy, consumer protection, cybersecurity, IP protection, and into the many ethical issues that AI presents.

City and Financial Global was pleased to announce the next edition of Data and the Future of Financial Services Summit, which took place in Central London on 17 May. This high-profile conference built on the success of our well-established Digital, Technology and Data Events portfolio, which have become “must attend” gatherings for senior decision-makers in the UK financial services industry and beyond.

We were delighted to let you know that this important gathering will be chaired by Vivienne Artz OBE, Chair of the IRSG Data Committee, and Data Strategy and Privacy Policy Advisor, CIPL.

The confluence of Big Data, Cloud Computing and AI has revolutionised the opportunities and threats that data presents to data-intensive industries such as financial services. The industry’s experience of crisis response has shown the potential risks of data sharing to the firms and their customers. As the regulatory landscape evolves, it is becoming increasingly important to understand a) what is driving data risks in your organisation and b) how to stay alert to far greater scrutiny from regulators, who want financial services firms to build a strong data culture to ensure responsible, transparent and ethical use of machine learning and data analytics. Of course, the opportunities are also huge: AI-driven data analytics can massively increase personalisation of financial products and the granularity of risk assessment.