Financial regulators are racing to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) to keep pace with rapidly evolving cyber threats, with watchdogs increasingly developing their own AI-powered supervisory tools to strengthen oversight of banks and digital assets, according to a Reuters report cited by Business-Today.
Marlene Amstad, president of Swiss financial market regulator FINMA and chair of an international forum on supervisory technology, said regulators must embrace new technologies as AI accelerates cybersecurity risks across the financial system. "As hackers move faster, banks must adapt by patching vulnerabilities more rapidly," Amstad told Reuters in an interview following an international hackathon aimed at developing AI tools for market supervision.
Regulatory Response and Collaboration
Recent AI models capable of identifying software vulnerabilities have heightened concerns over cyberattacks, operational risks and national security, prompting financial watchdogs to accelerate the adoption of supervisory technology. FINMA has helped establish a forum within the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to encourage AI adoption among regulators overseeing about 95% of global financial markets.
Around 100 policy and technology specialists participated in a hackathon this week to jointly develop AI-powered tools for supervising crypto markets, Amstad said. She added that regulators are also exploring ways to embed safeguards directly into digital asset systems to strengthen oversight.
AI Model Vulnerabilities and Export Controls
Amstad noted that experience with AI models such as Anthropic's Mythos has exposed operational vulnerabilities, highlighting the need for stronger safeguards before wider deployment. The comments come after the US government this month ordered Anthropic to suspend exports of its latest Mythos and Fable AI models, citing national security concerns.
Meanwhile, Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 Security Technology said it has developed a domestic alternative to Mythos. "Switzerland must retain access to the most advanced AI models," Amstad said, adding that AI will play a crucial role in making financial systems more resilient before they are deployed.
The developments underscore the dual-edged nature of AI in financial regulation: while it offers powerful tools for supervision, it also introduces new vulnerabilities that require careful management. For enterprise technology leaders, the push for AI-driven oversight signals a tightening of compliance requirements and the need for robust cybersecurity measures in financial infrastructure that underpins global trade and supply chain finance.
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