Singapore Moves to Make Boards Accountable for AI Failures

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has released a consultation paper proposing that Boards and senior managers in financial institutions be held responsible for risks created by artificial intelligence.

The guidelines outline that Boards must understand AI sufficiently to oversee its implementation, assess risks, and designate individuals or committees for monitoring. The consultation comes as major banks, including DBS Bank (Development Bank of Singapore), OCBC Bank (Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation), and UOB (United Overseas Bank), expand AI use and retrain staff, with DBS also cutting 4,000 global roles due to automation. MAS highlighted that AI failures could lead to financial losses, operational disruptions, biased outputs, and reputational damage, particularly with generative AI.

The guidelines aim to set expectations across institutions of different sizes and may influence global standards due to Singapore’s role in banking innovation. MAS said the approach complements its earlier AI security guidance.