EU designates Amazon and Google as critical tech providers to financial sector #
The European Union has designated Amazon, Google, and several other major technology firms as “critical third-party service providers” to the bloc’s financial industry, according to Reuters. The classification reflects regulators’ growing concern over the reliance of banks, insurers, and payment companies on a small number of cloud and technology vendors for core operational services
Under the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), providers deemed critical will be subject to stricter oversight, including mandatory cyber-resilience testing, data-handling requirements, and coordinated supervision by the European Supervisory Authorities. The move aims to minimise systemic risks posed by outages, cyber incidents, or concentration in cloud infrastructure
The designation follows a comprehensive assessment of technology dependencies across the financial sector and marks the first major wave of DORA enforcement. Regulators say the framework is designed to strengthen the EU’s financial stability as digital services become more embedded in banking and payments operations.