Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority chair calls for pre-emptive AI controls and stronger retail investor protection at IOSCO meetings

Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority published an update on Chair Mohamed Farid’s participation in the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) board meeting during IOSCO’s 50th annual meetings in Doha, where discussions focused on how financial markets should be regulated amid economic change and rapid digitalisation. Farid emphasised the need for continuous regulatory preparedness and flexibility, including ensuring supervisory frameworks can accommodate emerging technologies without undermining market stability. He highlighted fintech and accelerating digital transformation as core drivers of capital market development, and argued that increased reliance on artificial intelligence should be managed through governance, strategy and data rather than used as a near-term rationale for staffing reductions. Farid called for IOSCO to build on work presented by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) by developing a shared database to address data availability issues, and urged developers of AI tools and automated investment advice to be able to conduct stress testing for complex and contingency conditions. IOSCO’s board also reviewed retail investor protection as digital platform use increases, including possible periodic guidance for platform providers to strengthen their responsibility to prevent misleading and exploitation, alongside discussions on transparency and fairness in trading, potential updates to the Affiliate Members Consultative Committee’s mandate, and cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on financial education and market governance.