Senior policymakers gathered at International Monetary Fund meetings in Bangkok this week expressed alarm at the escalating risks posed by cyber-attacks to global financial stability. Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF's managing director, highlighted the threat by pointing to recent incidents in France where hackers accessed supermarket fridge controls and raised temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius, forcing chains to discard spoiled food. She warned that artificial intelligence was putting digital fraud on an unprecedented scale, potentially undermining public confidence in mainstream financial institutions.
Georgieva drew parallels to her childhood in Bulgaria, where distrust in the financial system led people to keep cash hidden at home rather than in banks. She expressed concern that without action to combat cyber-fraud, similar patterns could emerge globally. The threat extends beyond traditional cybercrime to include AI-generated celebrity deepfakes promoting cryptocurrencies and increasingly sophisticated email scams.
New technologies present additional challenges. JP Morgan's chief executive Jamie Dimon warned against allowing digital agents to manage customer finances on their behalf, citing risks of rogue agents making unauthorised decisions. Financial regulators worry that widespread adoption of such services could trigger rapid bank runs if deposits can be moved instantly across the financial system.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, who chairs the Financial Stability Board, highlighted uncertainties around responsibility when AI systems fail or cause damage. The UK has pledged to prioritise AI safety during its G20 presidency next year, and G7 finance ministers announced plans to simulate cyber-attacks against the global financial system to test resilience.