UK Designates AWS, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle as Critical Third Parties from July 13

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The UK government has placed Microsoft Ireland Operations, Google Cloud EMEA, Amazon Web Services EMEA, and Oracle Corporation UK under direct supervision by the Bank of England, the PRA, and the FCA, effective July 13, 2026. The designation obliges the four to participate in resilience testing, run regular self-assessments, and notify regulators of significant operational incidents affecting the financial system. It is the first live use of the Critical Third Parties regime created by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, and it means the cloud layer under AI financial workloads is now itself a regulated entity.