Banks need take accountability in using AI, says HKMA

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority highlights the importance of accountability in the use of agentic artificial intelligence by banks amid the growing amount of fraud.

Speaking at the Asian Financial Forum 2026 on Tuesday, Raymond Chan King-wang, executive director (enforcement and AML) of HKMA, said that now the AI applications are no longer merely assisting, but sometimes make decisions. 

He emphasised that if the HKMA finds some problems with the internal controls of the banks, it will never accept the excuse from the bank that the problem is caused by the machine.

Chan further mentioned that he and his team had run experiments with several banks, focusing on and providing detailed analyses of the banks' agent AI solutions. These solutions apply to everyday behaviour, digital, and transactional signals to assist banks in identifying.

Besides, Chan also encouraged banks to move fast, while "standing still is definitely not an option.”

What's more, Chris Yip Man-kai, general manager of the financial crime compliance department of BOC Hong Kong (2388),  noted that while the use of agent AI saves time and resources, it also places higher demands on finding talent with a deep understanding of how these models operate.