The FCA reports stronger firm confidence and understanding of Consumer Duty expectations, while continuing to focus on financial crime. In its latest survey, 88% of firms said they understood the regulator’s expectations on supporting consumers and embedding the Duty. Separately, the FCA highlighted the scale of money-mule activity, with firms closing 238,396 suspected mule accounts in 2025.
Mortgage and financial-advice firms using AI should treat governance as a commercial and regulatory priority. Useful controls include approved-use policies, human review of client-facing content, audit trails for automated workflows, supplier due diligence, secure handling of personal data and escalation routes where fraud indicators or vulnerable-customer needs arise. Efficiency gains matter, but demonstrable good outcomes and effective oversight matter more.