UK brings Microsoft, Google, and Amazon under financial oversight

Effective July 13, the identified subsidiaries—including Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd and Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL—must navigate a new supervisory regime managed jointly by the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority, and the Financial Conduct Authority. The framework mandates that these providers perform regular resilience testing, conduct consistent self-assessments, and provide immediate reports on major operational incidents.

Regulators are moving to address the vulnerability inherent in the industry's deepening reliance on external cloud infrastructure. A failure at one of these dominant suppliers could cascade across multiple financial institutions, threatening the stability of services relied upon by the public. While the European Union recently adopted a broader approach by designating 19 firms under a similar framework, the UK’s strategy focuses on deep-tier integration. A Google Cloud spokesperson signaled support for the mandate, noting that the new requirements could bolster transparency and trust across the financial ecosystem.