Nicoletti Altimari urges consumer control over AI financial agents
Bank of Italy Deputy Governor Sergio Nicoletti Altimari said consumers must retain control over AI agents acting on their behalf. At the Joint ESAs Consumer Protection Day in Rome, he called for traceable actions, human oversight and clear responsibility.
Delegation without surrendering control
Agentic AI can plan and execute financial actions, including payments, rather than merely recommend products.
Nicoletti Altimari said consumers must define agents' tasks and limits, monitor and challenge their actions and stop operations or revoke instructions.
Providers must verify identity, consent and authorisation for material decisions, make actions traceable and auditable and ensure proportionate human oversight.
Responsibility must remain with people and institutions.
Valid credentials and compliance with delegated limits do not guarantee that transactions reflect consumer intent.
Interactions between consumer and firm agents also raise risks of unintended outcomes and sophisticated fraud.
Protection starts before deployment
At the 13th Joint ESAs Consumer Protection Day on November 4, 2026, he urged protection from product design onward.
AI can improve access, product matching, fraud detection and complaint handling, but needs reliable data and controls.
Bank of Italy education supports schools and adults.
Supervisors must use complaints to detect harm, protect vulnerable users and inform regulation.
AI Act authorities must cooperate on risks outside financial regulation.
He thanked Erlinda Oliverio and Lisa Rodano for helping prepare the remarks.
Credentials do not establish intent
The speech distinguishes authorised execution from outcomes consumers actually intend.
It places responsibility on firms and people even when AI performs the task.
For Nicoletti Altimari, trust rests on clear accountability, effective safeguards and accessible remedies, not technological sophistication.
Source: Making AI-driven finance work for consumers
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