Financial firms are facing a growing challenge as artificial intelligence accelerates content production, while existing regulatory requirements continue to demand human oversight and thorough reviews of every communication. FINRA has reiterated that AI-generated material must meet the same standards as any other content.

RegTech provider Red Oak explored the issue at FINRA’s Advertising Regulation Conference in Washington, D.C., on 15 and 16 October, where AI governance featured in almost every conversation with attendees. Discussions focused particularly on third-party AI tools, including how firms manage and configure them, how much control they have over their behaviour and whether they can reproduce records of their activity for internal audits and regulatory examinations.

The conference’s opening plenary covered FINRA’s forward initiatives and regulatory developments. On artificial intelligence, the regulator emphasised that its rules are technology-neutral. Communications generated by AI are therefore subject to the same requirements as those produced through any other method.

FINRA also stressed that human expert judgement remains necessary during final reviews, as large language models are not yet consistently accurate.

This creates an operational challenge for financial institutions. AI tools can produce content far faster than compliance teams can assess it, but the same standards still apply to every communication. With a person required to make the final decision, the bottleneck is increasingly shifting from content creation to review.

A separate panel examined social media compliance and influencer risks, including the growing use of influencers to promote financial products. Discussions also addressed the wider challenge of supervising employee communications across different channels.

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