𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The UK is to regulate the biggest cloud service providers, including Microsoft and Google, in a move designed to protect the country’s financial system.

The Treasury said on Friday that it has designated for global cloud services and technology firms – Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services and Oracle – as critical third parties (CTP).

This means the firms will face oversight from the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority related to their services for the financial sector.

Regulators will be responsible to ensuring the firms have robust arrangements in place to identify, manage and recover from operational issues affecting critical services used across the finance sector.

Policymakers hope the move will mark a significant step in strengthening the resilience of the UK’s financial system.

It indicated that further providers could be designated over time in order to help improve resilience.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister Rachel Blake said: “We are a world-leading financial centre and maintaining trust in our financial system is essential to its success.

“These designations will help ensure the critical services financial firms rely on remain resilient, protecting consumers and businesses while supporting growth across the economy.”

Freddy Dezeure, deputy chief information security officer for Europe at Microsoft, said: “For more than 40 years, Microsoft has worked closely with UK Government agencies to help support citizens, improve services and secure and enhance the resilience of the digital ecosystem.

“The designation of Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited as a critical third party marks a new chapter in this relationship and Microsoft remains fully committed to complying with the relevant oversight requirements and the UK’s cybersecurity and resilience laws.”

A Google Cloud spokesperson said: “We are confident that, with effective implementation and meaningful industry engagement, this new CTP framework can enhance the long-term resilience of the UK’s financial ecosystem and increase understanding, transparency and trust between all parties.”

Michael Jefferson, head of financial services public policy for EMEA at AWS, said: “AWS supports the objectives of the UK authorities to ensure a robust UK financial system.

“AWS will comply with all applicable regulations and we remain committed to helping customers to meet their business and operational resilience objectives.”

Kevin Kimber, senior vice president general manager UK&I at Oracle, said: “Oracle supports the UK Government’s important objective of enhancing the operational resilience of the UK financial sector.

“We are committed to working closely with the regulators and our financial services customers toward that objective, while also supporting the Government in accelerating innovation and promoting long-term economic growth.”