The Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS), part of the Linux Foundation, announced the launch and cross-industry support behind its Common Controls for AI Services initiative — a collaborative effort to define standardized open source technology-neutral controls for safe and compliant AI adoption in the financial industry.
Global financial institutions — including BMO, Citi, Morgan Stanley, RBC, are working with major cloud and technology providers, including Microsoft, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS). These efforts are supported by consultants and vendors like Red Hat, Sonatype, ControlPlane, Scott Logic and Tetrate, working collaboratively to develop baseline AI controls tailored to the complex regulatory and operational requirements of the financial sector.
With broad industry support from other leading firms, such as Goldman Sachs, the initiative is expected to gain pace quickly and build on the strong foundations laid out by the FINOS AI Governance Framework and FINOS Common Cloud Controls projects.
“As AI becomes increasingly integrated into financial services, establishing common, open standards defined in collaboration with our customers is essential to ensuring trust, security, and regulatory compliance as part of the shared responsibility model,” said Allison Nachtigal, vice president at Azure and chief product officer at Microsoft, in a statement. “We have supported Common Cloud Controls since its inception because of its incredible potential to harmonize financial institutions’ requirements for cloud, and so we welcome this new strategic initiative to similarly enable responsible, scalable AI adoption in the industry”.
“Having played a key role in establishing the AI Readiness program, we are extremely proud to see FINOS take this major step forward towards establishing a shared approach to AI governance. By collaborating across our industry on a common controls framework, we make everyone stronger,” said Ian Micallef, MD for Developer Enablement at Citi, in a statement.
“We believe that open source standardized controls is the most efficient way for financial institutions to grapple with AI adoption safely and compliantly, which is why we champion the Common Controls for AI Services to foster secure innovation across the industry,” said David Stone, director for Financial Services in the Office of the CISO at Google Cloud, in a statement.
The Common Controls for AI Services initiative builds upon the success of the FINOS Common Cloud Controls (CCC) project, originally contributed by Citi, extending its framework to specifically address AI services according to the guidelines of the FINOS AI Governance Framework.
“At BMO, we know it’s never been more important for financial institutions to embrace collaborative solutions that allow us to harness the full potential of AI in a safe, secure and innovative way,” said Kristin Milchanowski, chief artificial intelligence and data officer at BMO, in a statement.
“From cloud to AI, FINOS continues to foster cross-functional collaboration that helps BMO and our peers unlock the value of emerging technologies, both for the institutions that adopt them and the clients we serve,” said Kim Prado, CIO for US Capital Markets in the Investment & Corporate Banking and Office of the COO at BMO, and Governing Board Member at FINOS, in a statement.
“At RBC, we view open source not just as a technology choice, but as a strategic enabler…This accelerates our cloud transformation and reinforces our commitment to collaboration, accountability, and innovation across the financial sector.,” said Maxime Coquerel, principal cloud security architect at RBC, in a statement.