On 1 June 2026, the European Commission appointed a 60-member Scientific Panel and an Advisory Forum to help enforce its Artificial Intelligence Act — the EU’s sweeping AI law — as announced by the European Commission. It’s a quiet but telling move: the rulebook now has the experts behind it to make it bite. The next hard date is 2 August 2026, when the Act’s transparency obligations begin — businesses will have to tell people when they’re dealing with an AI system and clearly label AI-generated content.

Why should an Australian wealth management or financial advice firm care about a European law? Two reasons. First, scope: if you have clients, partners, or operations with any EU connection, these rules can reach you. Second, the direction of travel. Financial services is one of the heaviest adopters of AI — automated client communications, advice and research tools, risk and KYC models — and regulators here watch Europe closely. Australia is already moving the same way: from 10 December 2026, local privacy rules will require businesses to disclose where automated systems make decisions about people. The EU’s transparency standard is a preview of what “good” will look like.

The practical step now is to map where AI touches your clients. Where do automated tools draft emails, generate reports, answer queries, or shape advice? For each one, make sure the use is disclosed, any AI-generated content is labelled, and you can document how it works if a regulator or client asks. This isn’t about ripping out useful tools — it’s about being able to show your workings. If you’re not sure where AI already sits in your systems, that’s the first thing to find out.

All IT Services helps financial services firms get this kind of governance right — secure, documented, and audit-ready — as part of our IT and compliance support for wealth managers.