AFB Seminar: AI in Financial Services – Regulatory Risks, Governance and Enforcement in the UK and US

AI is rapidly transforming the financial services sector. Firms are increasingly deploying AI across customer-facing functions, financial crime controls, trading activities, operational processes and risk management frameworks. At the same time, regulators are intensifying their focus on AI governance, accountability, customer outcomes and operational resilience.

This seminar, in partnership with WilmerHale, will provide members with a practical assessment of the key legal, regulatory and enforcement risks associated with AI deployment in financial services. It will provide actionable guidance on developing governance frameworks capable of withstanding regulatory scrutiny, with a focus on a comparison between the approaches in the UK and US.

This session is limited to five attendees per member bank.

Why attend?

Regulators are increasingly focused on how firms govern, monitor and oversee AI technologies. The seminar will examine the following key areas:

• The FCA’s principles-based approach to AI regulation
• AI governance, accountability and the SM&CR
• Enforcement risks including bias, explainability and third-party AI
• The FCA’s own use of AI in supervision and enforcement
• US financial regulators’ stance towards AI use, how their existing rules apply to AI regulation and current enforcement focus relating to AI
• Practical steps for firms to strengthen AI governance and resilience

Who should attend

This seminar is aimed at those who manage AI implementation, governance and regulatory risk at AFB banks. It will be particularly valuable for senior managers within Compliance, Legal and Risk functions.

Speakers

Lloyd Firth, Partner, London

Lloyd’s practice focuses on white collar criminal defence work, regulatory and internal investigations and compliance in the corporate sector. He has defended both individual and corporate clients in respect of investigations and enforcement proceedings initiated by authorities including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Bank of England and H.M. Revenue & Customs, further to allegations of bribery and corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, insider dealing, and various regulatory breaches. Lloyd has experience in handling high-profile sensitive matters requiring press and reputational management.

Imogen Makin, Counsel, London

Imogen Makin is a senior contentious regulatory lawyer, who has worked on some of the most high-profile regulatory investigations in the post-financial crisis period. She regularly acts for a wide range of financial institutions on both domestic and international investigations involving multiple regulators and government agencies, including: the SFO, Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). 

She has extensive experience of FCA and Prudential Regulation Authority enforcement investigations, including acting on a dual-track anti-money laundering investigation into anti-financial crime systems and controls, and successfully defending a financial institution in relation to global bribery investigations, as well as representing C-suite directors in FCA enforcement proceedings. 

Logistics

Fee: Included in membership

Venue: WilmerHale, 49 Park Ln, London W1K 1PS (nearest station: Marble Arch)

Date: Wednesday 25 November 2026
Time: 09:00 to 10:15 (arrivals and breakfast from 08:30)

If you would like to submit a question or have any specific areas that you would like the session to address, please send them to AFB at secretariat@foreignbanks.org.uk. You will receive details on how to join this session a week before the event.