Dear Deputy Assistant Secretary Quick:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Department of the Treasury’s (“Treasury”) Request for Information on Uses, Opportunities, and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in the Financial Services Sector (“RFI”) regarding the evolving nature of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) technologies and their use in the financial services sector.
It is critical for Treasury and other regulators to recognize that financial institutions have been using AI technology in different capacities for decades, for the benefit of their consumers and clients.
AI has brought efficiencies to the financial services sector that improve the consumer experience, increase inclusion in capital markets, support fair lending and expand credit, detect and prevent fraud, and support anti-money laundering. AI continues to evolve and will present opportunities to further improve the financial system and customer engagement.
Many of the questions surrounding AI – and concerns over risks expressed by government authorities – have been driven by the more recently developed generative AI (“GAI”). Any initiatives to address AI through formal regulations or guidance should not inappropriately disincentivize the use of a technology that has been safely and appropriately deployed by many regulated entities for years. The Chamber strongly supports a balanced and flexible framework towards AI that mitigates novel risks posed by AI while maximizing its innovative potential.
The Chamber has been a leading voice and an active participant in public policy discourse regarding the regulatory treatment of AI. Examples of our proactive engagement include:
· In September 2019, the Chamber released a set of AI policy principles that outline regulatory concepts for AI such as adopting a risk-based approach and endorsing sector-specific solutions as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach.[1]
· The Chamber has extensively engaged on development of the Office of Management and Budget’s (“OMB”) memorandum on Guidance on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications (“OMB Memorandum”) that was finalized in November 2020.[2]
· In 2022, the Chamber formed the Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Competitiveness, Inclusion, and Innovation (“Chamber AI Commission”). This independent Chamber AI Commission, chaired by former Representatives John Delaney and Mike Ferguson, and composed of academics, business leaders, ethicists, and technological leaders, met with experts of varying opinions throughout the United States, European Union, and the United Kingdom. The report and recommendations were a cumulation of over 14 months of work and were released in March 2023.[3]
· On January 30, 2024, the Chamber sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on AI policy development. The letter cited a report that 85% of financial firms are already using AI. Accordingly, the Chamber recommended to Chair Gensler that the SEC should use roundtables and concept releases to engage stakeholders to determine the course and shape of AI policies. Additionally, the letter recommended that the SEC General Counsel conduct an inventory to determine if gaps exist that will require Congress to grant additional authorities if risks exist.[4]
In pointing out that many AI activities are already covered by existing laws and regulations, the Chamber AI Commission advised policymakers to take a gap-filling, risk-based approach when addressing regulatory uncertainty around AI. Broadly, the Chamber urges regulators to consider the evolving nature of AI and the wide array of regulations and consumer and investor protections already in place before contemplating any new policy options. The financial services industry is already heavily regulated and has existing risk management frameworks in place to manage risks associated with AI.
Treasury should be flexible in its regulatory approach to ensure that innovation can proceed, American leadership is advanced, existing laws enforced, and gaps filled if existing law does not cover an activity that is determined to have a risky profile. In all of this, Treasury should defer to a financial institution’s primary regulator. Any future recommendations for regulation should be technology neutral and in response to a clearly identified regulatory gap, taking into the account the robust regulatory requirements already in place and focusing on outcomes, risks, and real-world applications of AI – rather than the underlying technologies deployed by financial institutions.
This RFI should be a first step by Treasury in its efforts to understand how the variety of sectors under this RFI’s financial institution definition use AI. Given the sheer breadth of the questions, wide array of financial institutions utilizing AI, and evolving nature of AI, the Chamber encourages Treasury to continue its learning in this space through public roundtables and other stakeholder engagement before issuing recommendations or calls to action.
The RFI sets forth an array of questions on the use of AI by the financial sector. The Chamber’s feedback, on a subset of the questions asked by Treasury, represents the views of the array of financial services institutions defined by Treasury in this RFI.[5]
Read the full comment letter here.
[1] U.S. Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center, Artificial Intelligence Principles (September 23, 2019), available at https://americaninnovators.com/news/u-s-chamber-releases-artificial-intelligence-principles/.
[2] U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Comments to OMB on its AI Draft Guidance (December 5, 2023), available at https://www.uschamber.com/technology/u-s-chamber-comments-to-the-office-of-management-and-budget-on-its-ai-draft-guidance.
[3] U.S. Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center, Commission on Artificial Intelligence Competitiveness, Inclusion, and Innovation, Report and Recommendations (2023), available at https://www.uschamber.com/assets/documents/CTEC_AICommission2023_Report_v6.pdf.
[4] U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Letter to SEC on AI Policy Development (January 30, 2024), available at https://www.uschamber.com/assets/documents/ccmc/20240130_U.S-Chamber-Letter-to-Chair-Gensler-on-Artificial-Intelligence.pdf.
[5] RFI, p. 3. Treasury defines “financial institutions” as “banks, credit unions, insurance companies, non-bank financial companies, fintech companies, asset managers, broker-dealers, investment advisors, other securities and derivatives markets participants or intermediaries, money transmitters, and any other company that facilitates or provides financial products or services under the regulatory authority of the federal financial regulators and state financial or securities regulators.”
