UK financial services is at a pivotal point in its digital transformation, and could become a world leader if we get it right, according to the chairperson of UK Finance.

Bob Wigley was speaking on an FS Club webinar yesterday (May 7), called ‘The future of finance: the impact of current tech and regulatory developments’.

On the webinar, Wigley said the UK’s financial sector stood at a “pivotal juncture,” with rapid advancements in AI, digital infrastructure, tokenisation, and other technologies intersecting with evolving regulatory priorities to redefine competitiveness, innovation, and risk management.

As previously reported by FT Adviser, some politicians and industry commentators have expressed concerns over whether the FCA should have been given a mandate to boost growth on top of its primary objectives as a regulator.

Some commentators have suggested a separate body should have been set up to help the government with its growth agenda to boost Britain.

But Wigley said: “When the government introduced its competitiveness objective, the FCA and the PRA have adopted it and are doing well.

“Bear in mind it is a secondary objective, not a primary one.

“Yes, there are some challenges from other political parties to the current government thinking, who have questioned whether it is sensible to upgrade the competition objectives of the regulator. This is happening across the political spectrum.

“But there has never been such close collaboration between the regulator and the industry in terms of thinking together how to evolve regulation, both to support innovation and protect consumers.”

Moreover, he said the UK’s financial services sector, together with the regulators, were well-positioned to navigate tech-driven change, address various challenges, and to boost the UK and global finance for the decade ahead.

Wigley said: “I’m super upbeat about the UK’s opportunity over the next decade. I think we’ve got it all going for us.

“While there is no doubt cyber criminals are moving fast, the industry is all over [the AI revolution]. We compare notes on it. We work together regularly. And everyone is working hard to deal with what we are seeing [develop] on a real-time basis.”

In a good place

When asked whether the UK was behind in terms of tech and AI adoption, he added: “I think we are in a good place.

“Are we behind somewhat? Maybe, because this tech is advancing daily, but if we keep up this collaboration, we will have the right outcomes.

“That is, we will keep on protecting consumers but embracing innovation and that’s what we must focus on.”

Wigley added: “In my 30 or 40 years’ experience, I cannot remember a time when the pace of technological change has been so fast, and across so many sectors at once.

“It is a huge challenge. Look at how much the big investment banks are spending; they are trying to cope with all of these highly significant challenges.

“But also a huge opportunity, in that they are harnessing the productivity opportunities [presented by AI].”

That is why it is important that UK regulators, industry and policymakers pursue the opportunities presented by this change, and not just focus on risk management.

He also told listeners the UK could be the world leader in terms of tokenising real-world assets and championing digital assets.

However, Wigley said this would require four things. He said: “We want the chancellor to stand up and say she wants the UK to lead in this.

“We also needed policymakers to clarify the common law to see how it applies to digital assets.

“We need government to commit to action on digitisation, and to state when it is going to issue digital gilts.

“And we need industry and regulators to continue to work rapidly on what has been learned from the digital services sandbox, to create what could be the world’s best digital assets regulation.”