ESRB warns of vulnerabilities in the financial system linked to advanced AI models

Press Release
European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), the EU's macroprudential authority, issues a formal warning about vulnerabilities in the financial system linked to advanced AI models. The ESRB's warning calls on relevant authorities to take such risks into account in supervision and monitoring.

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Published

2026-07-07

The rapid development of AI models capable of finding vulnerabilities in critical software and ways to exploit them entails increased cybersecurity risks.

At the EU level, the ESRB Board, with participation from the Riksbank and the Financial Supervisory Authority, is now issuing a formal warning to the EU regarding the risk of vulnerabilities in the financial system linked to advanced AI models. The purpose is to secure the resilience of the EU's financial system by increasing awareness of these risks and highlighting the need to counteract them. The ESRB warns that advanced AI models are changing the cyber threat landscape for the EU's financial system and that these models can make cyberattacks faster, more extensive, and more sophisticated. The ESRB also emphasizes that relevant authorities should take these risks into account in their supervision and monitoring.

In parallel with the ESRB's warning, the European Central Bank's Joint Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) is also highlighting risks associated with new advanced AI models in a letter to the heads of institutions under its supervision. The National Cyber Security Centre has also recently published advice and recommendations on AI and cybersecurity from a Swedish perspective.

In connection with this, the Financial Supervisory Authority and the Riksbank jointly wish to urge Swedish financial companies to prioritize the work of identifying, managing, and counteracting these risks, as well as continuing to strengthen their operational resilience.
"We welcome the ESRB's warning. AI development brings great opportunities for the financial sector but also entails risks. These risks often do not follow national borders, and in a world with geopolitical tensions, the question becomes even more complicated. Not least therefore, a warning at the EU level is important, although this is also a global issue. Authorities globally and in Sweden are in close dialogue with financial actors to ensure that they have the capacity to handle the risks implied by the rapid development of new, more capable, AI models," says Riksbank Governor Erik Thedéen.

"It is important that AI-related risks and cyber threats are widely acknowledged at the EU level, as they can affect both individual companies and the financial system as a whole. Companies need to assume that disruptions will occur and therefore build operational resilience. It is also a prioritized area in the FI's supervision," says FI Director General Johan Almenberg.