AI in action · Regulation
IOSCO Puts AI, Tokenisation and Quantum on Its 2027 Agenda
IOSCO, the global body of securities regulators, said on November 12, 2026, that AI, tokenisation and quantum computing lead its agenda for 2027.
Securities regulators from around the world spent two days in Madrid deciding what to worry about next year, and artificial intelligence came first. After its board meeting, the International Organization of Securities Commissions said on Thursday, November 12, that discussions "focused on assessing the regulatory and supervisory implications of rapid financial innovation," naming AI, tokenisation and quantum computing, Investment Executive reported.
IOSCO does not write laws. Its members, which include the SEC, the UK's FCA, the EU's national regulators and regulators from more than 130 jurisdictions, agree on principles and reports that each then applies at home. That makes its agenda an early signal: issues it takes up in 2027 tend to become national rules and supervisory priorities in the years that follow. Its February 2026 work programme had already grouped AI, the meeting of digital assets with traditional finance, tokenisation and quantum computing as a single theme, describing significant opportunities that "can also present risks."
The board also discussed what it called "increasingly sophisticated fraudulent schemes" targeting firms in the industry, a concern that overlaps with AI as deepfaked voices, cloned websites and generated documents make impersonation cheaper. Other items included developments in auditing, among them private equity investment in audit firms. The board approved several policy statements and reports to be published "in the coming weeks," without naming them.
One structural change matters for ordinary investors. IOSCO adopted a new set of standing committees, effective Friday, including a new Financial Education and Retail Conduct Committee. Retail investors are the group most exposed to AI-driven trading apps, finfluencers and scams, and a dedicated committee gives that work a permanent home rather than a project-by-project one. Its vice-chair is Camille Beaudoin of Québec's Autorité des marchés financiers.
For now there are no new rules to read, only an agenda. The publications promised for the coming weeks will show how concrete that agenda becomes, and whether IOSCO moves from describing AI risks, as in its earlier reports, to telling members what supervisors should actually require of firms that use it.
Sources: Investment Executive — IOSCO targets tech threats to capital markets; IOSCO — Media releases