Palantir Technologies, the U.S. data analytics firm, has secured a contract to supply AI systems to Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to assist in combating financial crime. Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel, analyses internal data for organisations. The company aims to provide data-driven insights to clients across various industries. The 12-week contract has raised concerns among lawmakers on the parliamentary Treasury committee, who questioned FCA officials about Palantir’s potential access to sensitive regulatory data.
Conservative lawmaker John Glen voiced concerns about the firm becoming ubiquitous across government, questioning whether measures were in place to prevent a monopoly. The FCA’s chief data, information and intelligence officer, Jessica Rusu, assured the committee that the procurement process was conducted ‘blind,’ and the regulator was unaware of the winning bidder’s identity until its conclusion. Rusu also stated that Palantir would act as a data processor and the U.S. CLOUD Act would not apply to the FCA arrangement.
Despite these assurances, the decision to award the contract to a U.S. provider comes after the FCA itself warned the financial services industry about the systemic risks of over-reliance on a small number of large tech firms. FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi acknowledged the strategic question surrounding the deployment of big technology across public functions. However, he emphasised the need for stronger data and analytics to effectively tackle financial crime.
A Palantir spokesperson affirmed the company was proud to support the FCA’s efforts in combating financial crime and is contractually precluded from commercialising any data processed during its work in Britain. They stated the software can only be used to process data strictly according to customer instructions.
