Google · Amazon · Oracle · Microsoft · The Guardian Technology
Bank of England handed powers to regulate key tech companies including Amazon and Google
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 source. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
The Bank of England has been handed powers to regulate important tech firms including Amazon and Google from next week, amid fears that system failures could threaten financial stability and harm consumers.
Key facts
- Last October, Lloyds Banking Group was among more than 2,000 companies whose online services were disrupted by a glitch at Amazon’s cloud computing services operations in Northern Virginia, a major
- Overall, customers at Britain’s main banks and building societies suffered the equivalent of more than a month’s-worth of IT failures between 2023 and 2025, according to the Treasury committee
- The UK government came under fire for dragging its feet and taking more than 18 months to decide which companies should be supervised by British financial regulators, who were given the theoretical — This will mean having “direct” oversight of local arms of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Oracle and Microsoft, all of which have been identified as “critical third parties” by the UK government
Summary
From Monday, the Bank and fellow City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be in charge of ensuring that four large-scale providers of cloud and tech services to banks are resilient and actively reducing the risk of cyber-attacks and major outages that could disrupt services for millions of people and businesses across the UK. This will mean having “direct” oversight of local arms of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Oracle and Microsoft, all of which have been identified as “critical third parties” by the UK government, according to an announcement on Friday. The companies will have to prove they are carrying out adequate stress testing, showing how they respond to imagined emergency scenarios that put their operations under severe strain.