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Artificial intelligence is moving to the centre of banking in Southeast Asia. It is already embedded across core banking operations, and generative and, increasingly, agentic systems are extending its reach into more of the work banks do. For a region whose financial sector sits within one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, the opportunity is large, and adoption is already well advanced: around three-quarters of banks run generative AI in production or are piloting it.
How that AI is governed, though, is settled market by market. As banks increasingly build on the same models, cloud platforms and providers, and move data across borders to run them, whether the region’s rules work together or pull apart becomes central to whether the sector can realise what AI offers. This report assesses how far AI governance across the eleven ASEAN markets is interoperable today. It follows the recommendations presented to the ASEAN Central Bank Governors and Financial Institutions CEO Dialogue in April 2026. These called on ASEAN banks, with support from national regulators, to work towards common principles and standards for AI governance in financial services.¹ The report draws on three sources. The first is a market-by-market reading of primary law and regulation. The second is a survey of senior technology, data and risk leaders at 61 banks across all eleven markets. The third is a set of interviews with supervisors in the region, held under the Chatham House Rule. Throughout, the report describes how the markets’ rules converge or differ across borders. It does not rank or grade them.
