An overwhelming 92% of compliance professionals in the Irish financial services sector believe organised crime groups are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as deepfakes, synthetic identities and AI-generated phishing, to commit financial crime[1]. About 93% of these experts see AI-related dangers – such as AI-driven cyber risks and an over-reliance on a small number of AI vendors – as a growing systemic risk to the Irish financial sector as a whole.
This is according to the findings of a new survey by the Compliance Institute, Ireland's professional body for compliance professionals, which polled 114 senior compliance experts working primarily in Irish financial services organisations nationwide.
Commenting on the survey findings, Michael Kavanagh, CEO of the Compliance Institute, said:
“Today’s survey shows just how significant a threat AI-driven financial crime has become to the Irish financial services sector. The growing use of AI to perpetrate crimes means the potential for damage from financial crime is rapidly increasing. Criminals don't need to be technically sophisticated themselves anymore because AI tools can do the heavy lifting for them in that regard.
“The fact that 93% of compliance professionals see AI as a growing systemic risk should be taken seriously. When many firms rely on the same small number of AI and technology providers, a single outage, error or cyberattack doesn’t stay with one firm. It can spread across the sector very quickly. Ireland is home to the European operations of many of the world’s largest technology and cloud companies, so this risk is especially relevant here. Firms need to understand exactly where their dependencies lie and have a plan for when a provider fails.”
The Compliance Institute say their findings echo concerns raised by the Central Bank of Ireland, which in its 2026 Regulatory & Supervisory Outlook, pointed to the financial sector’s “growing reliance on a small number of technology providers and infrastructure for critical services”, and warned that AI “can amplify existing weaknesses”.
Headline findings from the Compliance Institute survey reveal that:
- Seven in ten (70%) compliance professionals believe that the use of AI tools by organised crime groups to commit financial crime is “significantly” increasing (see Table 1 in Appendix).
- When asked if AI-related threats are a growing systemic risk to the Irish financial sector as a whole, rather than just a risk to individual firms, almost half (46.5%) of compliance experts said this was “significantly” the case while 46.5% reported it to be “somewhat” the case (see Table 2 in Appendix).
- The new findings mirror those of a survey conducted by the Compliance Institute earlier this summer which found that seven in ten compliance professionals rank AI-enabled impersonation scams, including voice cloning, deepfake video, and fake identity use, as the single biggest scam threat facing consumers in 2026.
Mr. Kavanagh continued,
“Fraudsters are using AI to clone voices, generate convincing video and build entire fake identities in order to trick people into handing over their money or personal information. What makes AI-driven fraud so dangerous is how convincing it has become and how much more difficult it is now for people to recognise scams. The growing use of AI to carry out financial crime is something which compliance professionals in the Irish financial services sector are acutely aware of.”
Appendix
Compliance Institute Autumn 2026 Survey: AI (Financial Crime & Risk to Irish financial sector)
Table 1
Do you believe organised crime groups are increasingly using AI tools (e.g. deepfakes, synthetic identities, AI-generated phishing) to conduct financial crime? (Single select)
|
Yes, significantly increasing |
70% |
|
Yes, somewhat increasing |
22% |
|
No noticeable change |
2% |
|
Not something I've seen evidence of
|
6% |
Table 2
Do you see AI-related risk (e.g. over-reliance on a small number of AI vendors, AI-driven cyber threats, concentration risk) as a growing systemic risk to the Irish financial sector as a whole, rather than just a risk to individual firms? (Single select)
|
Yes, significantly |
46.5% |
|
Yes, somewhat |
46.5% |
|
No significant impact |
2% |
|
No, it’s a risk to individual firms only |
4% |
|
No, I don’t see it as a risk at all |
1% |
[1] Financial crime refers to any crime involving money, financial services or financial markets. It includes fraud and scams, money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, and cyber-enabled crime such as identity theft and phishing.
