The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has introduced a framework to guide the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the banking sector.
The move comes as as financial institutions explore AI systems capable of planning and executing tasks with greater autonomy.
The “ART” Framework focuses on accountability, resilience, and trust. It aims to help banks adopt AI while maintaining effective governance, operational safeguards, and human oversight.
The framework includes updated supervisory guidance on responsible AI adoption, drawing on findings from the second cohort of the HKMA’s Generative AI Sandbox.
The authority is also developing an AI training data-sharing platform with Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company and the University of Hong Kong, with data quality assurance built into its design.
The HKMA plans to conduct further trials of agentic AI through its GenAI Sandbox++ and publish a discussion paper on a proposed supervisory framework for governing such systems.
Potential measures include assigning accountability based on an AI agent’s intended purpose, maintaining a registry of material AI agents and establishing mechanisms for human intervention.
Agentic AI systems can carry out multiple steps towards a specified objective, rather than simply generating responses to user prompts.
Their growing access to data, tools and workflows has increased the importance of controls over their decisions and actions.
The HKMA disclosed the initiatives during the two-day Finance + AI Forum, co-hosted with Cyberport.
The event also marked the completion of technical trials under the second GenAI Sandbox cohort, which the regulator said had produced positive results.
More than 60% of the use cases examined in the cohort involved agentic AI, highlighting banks’ interest in applications that can automate planning and execute multi-step tasks within defined boundaries.
“The progression from generative to agentic A.I. represents an important new stage of innovation for the banking sector,” said Arthur Yuen, deputy chief executive of the HKMA.
Under its Fintech 2030 strategy, the authority is seeking to establish a foundation for banks to develop and deploy AI responsibly, Yuen said.
He added that innovation must be accompanied by clear accountability, resilient operating models and effective human oversight.
