Bank of England handed powers to regulate key tech firms including Amazon and Google
News Source
β’Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:37:13 GMT
π° What Happened
The Bank of England got new powers to regulate big tech companies like Amazon and Google starting next week. The Bank and the Financial Conduct Authority will oversee four major cloud service providers: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Microsoft.
The regulators want to make sure these tech firms are resilient and protect against cyberattacks. If a major cloud provider goes down, it could disrupt banking services for millions of people. The companies must prove they have proper stress testing and cyber defenses.
These four companies have been identified as critical third parties by the UK government. They provide cloud and tech services that banks depend on to operate. The new rules give regulators direct oversight of their operations.
π The Backstory
Almost all modern banks rely on cloud services from big tech companies. They store customer data, run banking apps, and process payments using Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle servers. If any of these cloud providers fail, banking could grind to a halt.
The UK government has been worried about this dependency for years. A single outage at a cloud provider could affect the whole economy. People would not be able to use their bank cards, access online banking, or get money from ATMs.
The Bank of England has also warned about AI posing risks to financial stability. As banks use more AI and cloud services, the risks grow. These new powers are part of a wider effort to protect the UK financial system from tech failures and cyberattacks.
π― Why It Matters
You might not think about it, but your bank runs on cloud servers owned by Amazon, Google, or Microsoft. If those servers go down, your money could be stuck. This regulation aims to stop that from happening and keep the economy running smoothly.
The Bank of England got new powers to regulate big tech companies like Amazon and Google starting next week. The Bank and the Financial Conduct Authority will oversee four major cloud service providers: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Microsoft.
The regulators want to make sure these tech firms are resilient and protect against cyberattacks. If a major cloud provider goes down, it could disrupt banking services for millions of people. The companies must prove they have proper stress testing and cyber defenses.
These four companies have been identified as critical third parties by the UK government. They provide cloud and tech services that banks depend on to operate. The new rules give regulators direct oversight of their operations.
Almost all modern banks rely on cloud services from big tech companies. They store customer data, run banking apps, and process payments using Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle servers. If any of these cloud providers fail, banking could grind to a halt.
The UK government has been worried about this dependency for years. A single outage at a cloud provider could affect the whole economy. People would not be able to use their bank cards, access online banking, or get money from ATMs.
The Bank of England has also warned about AI posing risks to financial stability. As banks use more AI and cloud services, the risks grow. These new powers are part of a wider effort to protect the UK financial system from tech failures and cyberattacks.
You might not think about it, but your bank runs on cloud servers owned by Amazon, Google, or Microsoft. If those servers go down, your money could be stuck. This regulation aims to stop that from happening and keep the economy running smoothly.