Bangkok: The Group of Seven (G7) finance leaders have agreed to conduct exercises to test how financial authorities would respond to cyberattacks involving advanced artificial intelligence, as governments strengthen preparations for emerging threats to the global financial system.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama confirmed the agreement following a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting took place alongside the International Monetary Fund's annual gathering.
The planned exercises will use simulated cyberattack scenarios to assess how effectively financial authorities can respond to incidents involving advanced AI systems. The findings are expected to help officials review existing procedures and update operational manuals.
Private financial institutions could also participate, depending on the scenarios selected. However, the authorities have not announced a timetable for the exercises or identified the institutions expected to take part.
The initiative comes as governments and financial regulators examine how advanced AI could change the nature and scale of cyber threats. AI can help organisations detect suspicious activity and identify weaknesses in computer systems. However, similar capabilities could also allow attackers to discover vulnerabilities and exploit them more quickly.
Financial authorities are concerned that a serious cyber incident could disrupt essential services, affect several institutions at the same time and undermine public confidence in the financial system.
Banks and other financial institutions depend on interconnected computer systems, payment networks, software providers and digital infrastructure. A disruption affecting an important service provider could therefore have consequences for multiple organisations across national borders.
The planned exercises will give officials an opportunity to examine how they would manage such situations and coordinate their responses. Tabletop exercises involve discussing hypothetical emergencies and evaluating how existing arrangements would work in a crisis. They do not necessarily involve live cyberattacks or tests against operational systems.
The G7 has already established arrangements for cooperation between finance ministries, central banks, banking supervisors and other financial authorities during major cyber incidents.
In May 2026, the G7 completed a cross border coordination exercise that simulated a large scale cyber incident affecting its member jurisdictions. The exercise tested how authorities would cooperate during a financial sector emergency.
The newly announced initiative adds a specific focus on threats involving advanced AI to this existing programme. Its findings could help authorities identify weaknesses in their response arrangements and determine whether current procedures are adequate for emerging cyber risks.
The G7 Cyber Expert Group has also examined the cybersecurity implications of developing AI technologies. In a statement published in October 2025, the group recognised both the opportunities and risks associated with generative AI, agentic AI and other advanced systems. It encouraged continued monitoring of technological developments and stronger cooperation among governments, industry and academic institutions.
The International Monetary Fund has also highlighted cyber incidents as a potential risk to financial stability. Its October 2026 Global Financial Stability Report examined threats that could disrupt financial services or weaken confidence in financial markets.
The IMF has warned that AI could accelerate the discovery and exploitation of software vulnerabilities. At the same time, the technology can strengthen defensive measures by helping organisations identify suspicious activity and respond to threats. The impact will depend partly on how financial institutions and attackers use these capabilities.
The Bank of England is separately working with financial institutions to strengthen cyber recovery arrangements. This work reflects concerns that security measures may not prevent every incident and that financial institutions must be prepared to restore essential services if their systems are compromised.
These efforts highlight the importance of preparing for both prevention and recovery. Financial authorities need to understand how attacks can be detected, how essential operations can continue during a disruption and how services can be restored if normal systems become unavailable.
International cooperation is particularly important because financial institutions and digital service providers operate across borders. A cyber incident affecting one country can create problems for institutions in other jurisdictions. Better information sharing and coordination can help authorities respond more effectively to such emergencies.
However, several details of the new exercises remain unclear. The authorities have not publicly specified when the simulations will take place, which AI systems will be considered or what types of cyberattack scenarios will be examined. The extent of private sector participation has also not been confirmed.
The effectiveness of the initiative will depend on how the exercises are designed, whether they identify weaknesses in existing arrangements and how quickly authorities act on their findings.
The agreement marks another step in the G7's efforts to prepare the financial sector for changing cyber risks. As advanced AI technologies develop, governments and financial institutions face the challenge of strengthening their defences while ensuring that essential financial services remain reliable during a major disruption.