FCA asks AI companies to explain limits of financial answers

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is calling on the companies behind AI chatbots to help people understand the limits of the financial information and advice their chatbots give. Jessica Rusu, the FCA's chief data, information and intelligence officer, made the call in a speech on 19 October 2026.

She said more people are turning to AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude for financial information and advice, which can make it harder to tell when they are protected and when they are not. The FCA's answer, she said, is to make that dividing line clearer, rather than simply to widen the range of activity it regulates.

The FCA already helps people understand their protections through InvestSmart and its Firm Checker. But she said warnings might work better at the moment a chatbot gives the financial information, and asked AI companies to give clear, proportionate and consistent warnings about the limits of that information.

This is a request, not a new rule. The FCA said in an August 2026 announcement that it does not regulate general-purpose AI tools.

On the same day as the speech, the FCA published examples of good and poor practice for the financial firms it regulates when they use AI. Good practice includes letting customers reach a person and making clear when they are using an AI tool. The FCA said the examples do not add any new rules.

What it means for consumers

The speech did not announce any new rights for consumers. The FCA has said that people who act on advice from a general-purpose AI chatbot have no formal way to complain or get compensation if something goes wrong.

In research carried out by Yonder for the FCA in April 2026, 5,026 UK adults with a day-to-day bank account were asked to imagine using a general-purpose AI tool such as ChatGPT or Gemini for advice about investment options. They were asked what they could do to put things right if something went wrong. The research found that 4 in 10 (40%) correctly said there was no formal way to put things right.

People who get advice from a firm the FCA has authorised can complain to the firm and then to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free. If the firm has gone out of business, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme might pay compensation for bad advice.

People can use the FCA Firm Checker to see if a firm is authorised. Our guide explains how to check a firm is authorised before investing.

What happens next

The FCA said it will build on its existing work to help investors spot scams, check information and question unreliable AI answers. It did not say when.

A joint survey by the FCA and the Bank of England on how financial firms use AI is due to be published in the week of 26 October, the FCA said.