Is Governance and Compliance Keeping Pace with Generative AI? May 27, 2026 By Mary Cormack A striking 78% of professionals now use generative AI tools at work, according to a 2026 survey by the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA)*. That figure rises to 96% among finance professionals. What was once emerging technology is now embedded in day‑to‑day workflows. From rapidly analysing financial reports to summarising industry research, generative AI is helping teams work more efficiently and stay ahead, often using high‑quality published content as prompts. As adoption accelerates, governance questions follow As generative AI adoption accelerates, important governance considerations emerge. Does your organisation have clear policies addressing the practical and legal implications of using these tools? And do teams understand how to avoid copyright infringement when using or prompting them? For financial organisations operating in a highly regulated environment, copyright infringement represents an avoidable legal and reputational risk. Content use, copyright and compliance risks Of those surveyed, 67% acknowledged that copyright infringement poses a risk to their organisation, yet 54% said they would not hesitate to copy content if their work required it. In finance, where due diligence and governance guide decision-making, copyright compliance should be embedded within broader risk management and digital strategies. Recognising the value of published content, such as financial trade media and industry research, is essential. Over 36% of respondents use trade and industry publications in their work, with 61% sharing this content with colleagues. While subscriptions provide access, they do not always grant the right to copy or share content. Many online and print publications explicitly restrict storing or redistribution, meaning access does not automatically provide reuse rights. “67% acknowledged that copyright infringement poses a risk to their organisation, yet 54% said they would not hesitate to copy content if their work required it” Generative AI permissions for copyright compliance To support financial organisations in this evolving landscape, CLA Business Licence permissions include Generative AI Workplace permissions. These allow the use of opted-in third‑party published content to prompt permitted gen AI tools. This enables organisations to lawfully generate outputs using copyright‑protected content from participating publishers, subject to licence terms. The permissions provide a practical route to compliance, enabling financial institutions to use gen AI lawfully and responsibly while supporting fair remuneration for creators and rightsholders. Building on its workplace generative AI permissions, CLA has developed a voluntary, opt-in collective licensing solution in partnership with ALCS and PLS, with the backing of authors and publishers. Designed for organisations that are training or developing AI systems, rather than just using AI tools day-to-day, this solution supports a range of evolving AI use cases, including foundation model, fine-tuning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), enterprise AI solutions or sector-specific AI tools. It also provides access to high-value, AI-ready publisher content across multiple subject areas, including finance. For financial organisations using large volumes of published material to drive innovation, it offers the control, transparency, and confidence needed to scale AI responsibly, with clear attribution and permissions that help ensure creators and rightsholders are properly recognised and rewarded. Explore Gen AI permissions Why governance in AI use is crucial within finance Gen AI governance extends beyond copyright infringement risk to encompass operational data risk. Assuming content can be freely used in gen AI tools is both incorrect and potentially harmful. Where proprietary content is retained or reused, organisations may face serious regulatory consequences. Data protection breaches and the loss of confidential information also present significant risks. A 2025 Enterprise Study by Harmonic Security , analysing 1,000,000 prompts, revealed how sensitive data is leaking into Gen AI tools at scale. Nearly 22% of uploaded files and 4.37% of prompts contained sensitive content, with 26.3% of sensitive prompts going through the free version of ChatGPT. Incidents such as code leakage, credit card exposure, customer data breaches and employee PII leaks pose high regulatory and reputational risks. The rise of ‘shadow AI’ is another warning sign, with 11.5% of CLA survey respondents using generative AI at work without official permission. This suggests demand for gen AI tools is outpacing organisational policy and governance. When policies fail to keep pace with behaviour, risk does not disappear; it simply becomes harder to identify and manage. “When policies fail to keep pace with behaviour, risk does not disappear; it simply becomes harder to identify and manage” Developing your generative AI governance framework  In response to this evolving risk landscape, financial organisations should take a structured approach to generative AI governance: Copyright and content licensing: Ensure employees understand what third-party content is protected by copyright and ensure appropriate permissions. Tool evaluation and security: Regularly assess the security and compliance credentials of generative AI tools, with particular attention to data handling and reuse. Tools should meet internal security requirements and confirm that inputted content is not used to train underlying models. Generative AI usage policies: Develop internal policies on the use of generative AI tools, specifying approved tools and permissible content. Monitoring and auditing: Bring in systems to track how generative AI tools are used across the organisation, identifying potential risks and adherence to policy. Setting the standard for responsible gen AI in finance Generative AI offers significant opportunity for the financial sector, but only where innovation is matched by robust governance. Clear policies, strong frameworks and appropriate licensing allow organisations to adopt generative AI with confidence while safeguarding compliance, reputation and creator rights. CLA Business Licence For Finance Discover more about how the CLA Business Licence supports the Financial sector Explore the licence Get in touch Talk to our team today about managing copyright risk and responsible generative AI use "*" indicates required fields NameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.First Name*Last Name*Organisation Name*Why are you contacting CLA*Use dropdownEnquire about a CLA LicenceBeen contacted by CLAEnquire about workplace copyright complianceTo copyright, trade mark or patent your business name or ideaOtherEmail*Phone*CLA provides licences and products to support the compliant reuse of published content. We do not provide trade mark, patent or copyrighting services. For advice on registering trade marks, copyright and IP rights please contact the UK Intellectual Property Office . 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