Latest News:
28 October 2008 - The First Minister, Alex Salmond MP MSP, recently met with senior representatives from the Scottish Government and Lloyds TSB to discuss the emerging propositions for the proposed merger between Lloyds TSB and HBOS. As part of this meeting, a booklet outlining the advantages of Scotland as a business location was produced and presented to Lloyds TSB. As agreed with the company, this booklet has been made publically available.
2008 Annual Report launched on 27 May 2008 by John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth.
Latest Publications:
2008 Annual Report
2007 Annual Report
Latest News Releases:
FiSAB meeting 2 September 2008 News Release
Launch of 2008 Annual Report News Release
Global Financial Services Week 26-30 May 2008 - for further information on this Week please
regularly check www.globalfinancialservicesweek.com for updates.
FiSAB Annual Report 2007
Scotland's Financial Services Industry
Global Context
The global financial services industry is in a period of unprecedented change, following recent intensification of the market turbulence which began in Autumn 2007. Rapidly deteriorating investor confidence led to bankruptcies, unexpected private-sector takeovers of financial institutions, and government interventions to restore stability to markets and contain overspill to the real economy
The United Kingdom
On 8 October, the UK Government announced a package of interventions to shore up the banking sector and on 13 October announced capital injections of up to £37 billion to RBS and the proposed Lloyds TSB/HBOS merged group. Following the UK announcement, part-nationalisation through cash injection was widely adopted in Europe and the USA.
Scotland's Financial Services Industry
While it will be some time before we know what impact the international financial crisis will have on the size, shape and focus of Scotland's financial services industry going forward, the information below illustrates the significant growth and contribution of the industry in recent years.
The financial services industry is one of the most important in Scotland's economy, with the sector performing strongly against UK and international benchmarks. Scotland is renowned for its expertise in finance. And Scotland's financial services industry is truly internationalised and a success story. It is one of Scotland's oldest industries, and yet one of our most modern, vibrant and innovative.
Today the financial services industry makes a vital contribution to the strength of Scotland's economy, to our quality of life and to our growing international reputation as a world class location for business. It contributes around £7billion (7%) to Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Scottish economy. Over the period 1998-2007, GDP in Scotland's financial services industry has grown by 96%, compared to growth of 22% in the economy as a whole, and 84% across UK financial services as a whole.
Strategy for the Financial Services Industry in Scotland
In 2005, the government, together with the industry and the trade unions, published a Strategy for the Financial Services Industry in Scotland. This set out an ambitious vision for an innovative, competitive and thriving financial services industry, underpinned by world class infrastructure and universally acknowledged as a leader on the global stage.
A First Year Implementation Plan was published alongside the Strategy.
The first Annual Report was published on May 15, 2006.
On 27 May 2008, on behalf of the Financial Services Advisory Board (FiSAB), John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and John Campbell (FiSAB Industry Deputy Chair and Chairman of Scottish Financial Enterprise) jointly presented the 2008 Annual Report of the strategy. This sets out:
- A summary of achievements in the third year of the strategy.
- Comparative data on the strong progress made by the financial services industry in Scotland.
- An outline of plans for year four and beyond.