Welcome to the SCOTTISH FINANCIAL SERVICES YEARBOOK website.
The current edition of this independent publication has been published in November 2009 and is widely recognised as THE most comprehensive reference source available on the companies and the people who operate in Scotland’s financial services sector. The circulation is spread throughout the financial and business communities in Scotland and the UK with additional copies also sent to major financial districts throughout the world. The current edition includes special articles on banking,
insurance, fund management and professional services by renowned Scottish business writers Kenny Kemp and Ian Fraser.
SFS Yearbook announces
Scotland’s TOP 30 Financial Rainmakers
In the new 2009-10 edition of Scotland’s definitive guide to its financial sector, published in November – we announced our TOP 30 Rainmakers. The key individuals that we feel can re-invigorate the Scottish financial sector during the coming year. Read the full article here.
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HBJ Gateley Wareing secure Manchester base
Leading national law firm, HBJ Gateley Wareing, which has Scottish offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, have confirmed to SFSbusiness that 40 former partners from the Manchester office of troubled legal firm Halliwells, have now joined their law firm.
Staff numbers increase, taking the firm up to 140 partners and with an additional 200 fee earners this takes total numbers to 750. Turnover is consequently expected to reach around £65 million for the year ending 30 April 2011. [more...]
RBS £3bn shot in the arm for commercial property sector
Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to sell off a £3 billion portfolio of commercial property loans in a move that will test the market and reduce its own exposure in that area over the next five years. The move is part of Chief Executive Stephen Hester’s strategy to refocus the bank on its core markets and rebuild. [more...]
Positive outlook in survey results
The 83rd CBI/PricewaterhouseCoopers Financial Services Survey carried out between 19th May and 2nd June, showed a continued gentle improvement in confidence and in levels of activity, but with increasingly upbeat predictions for the coming quarter. 73 companies operating in the financial services sector took part and provided response. [more...]
Biggart Baillie announce three new partners
Leading Scottish law firm, Biggart Baillie LLP, is reinforcing its commitment to future growth with the internal promotions of 3 partners and 5 associates.
In the Corporate department, David Gilchrist and Damien Bechelli have been promoted to become Partners. Gilchrist and Bechelli will continue to focus on corporate finance and corporate transactions and will look to further develop the firm’s corporate presence in Glasgow.
In the Property department, Chris McLeish is also promoted to Partner. McLeish will continue to build the UK property finance and investment side of the practice. [more...]
Major new report recommends action by the Accountancy Profession to prioritise
Workforce Health
It’s a problem that is estimated to cost UK employers £14 billion annually, but despite the fact that most management teams agree that “employees are our most valuable asset”, senior accountants and finance directors show limited interest in the health and wellbeing of their workforce, according to new research published by ICAS.
'Recognising Workforce Health as a Key Organisational Asset: A Study of Current Thinking and Practice', by Professor Robin Roslender, Dr Howard Kahn and Joanna Stevenson, investigates how finance directors and HR directors in the private and public sectors view issues surrounding the health and wellbeing of their workforce and how workforce health can be ‘valued’. The report draws on case studies of three very different organisations – AstraZeneca, South Lanarkshire Council and South West Water. [more...]
Joining the Judges
Leading law firm Biggart Baillie LLP has announced that Alan Strain, Head of Dispute Management at the firm, has been appointed as a part time Employment Tribunal Judge with effect from 1st February 2010.
Employment Tribunals hear claims about all matters to do with employment, including unfair dismissal, redundancy payments and discrimination. In his role as Employment Tribunal Judge Alan will oversee all aspects of the tribunals, hearing and deciding cases where parties are both represented and unrepresented. [more...]
Debt Dependency a threat to Economic Stability - says Skeoch
The UK’s recovery from the recession should take hold in 2010 but changes must be made to the structural nature of the nation’s debt dependency if increasingly volatile boom and bust cycles are to be avoided, according to Keith Skeoch, Chief Executive, of the global fund manager Standard Life Investments. [more...]
Sir David Tweedie nominated as vice-president of ICAS
Sir David Tweedie CA, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), has been nominated as Vice-President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. This is in recognition of Sir David’s outstanding contribution to the accountancy profession and to ICAS, and is made with a view to his becoming President of the Institute in 2012. Sir David retires from the IASB on 30 June 2011. [more...]
US visit marks first overseas mission
for new Scottish Enterprise Head
Lena Wilson will make her first visit to the US shortly as chief executive of Scottish Enterprise (SE), in a trip which will see her meet some of the biggest foreign investors in Scotland. The visit, which is part of a series of overseas trips designed to promote Scotland and Scottish businesses internationally, aims to explore new trade and investment opportunities for Scotland in the region. [more...]
Securities & Investment Institute becomes a chartered body
The SII has announcd that from 1st November 2009 it changed its name to the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI). The gaining of Chartered status is the most significant change for members since the formation of the Securities Institute in 1992. The broadening scope of the Institute’s work led to a change of name in 2004 to the Securities & Investment Institute. In the past few years, the growth and development of the Institute has seen staff representatives appointed in Scotland and Ireland and the opening of offices in four major financial centres globally: Mumbai, Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore. [more...]
Standard Life reports favourable prospects
Standard Life has reported a very positive interim outlook up to September and Standard Life investments net inflow are 75% higher than the same period last year. Their life and pensions net inflow in the third quarter are 91% higher. There is also strong growth in assets as markets begin to recover – although new business sales do reflect the impact of weaker average financial market levels. [more...]
Morton Fraser moves into landmark Edinburgh location
Leading law firm Morton Fraser have moved into new purpose built offices at the Quartermile development in Edinburgh. The firm will occupy the top four floors of the £20m six storey office development at Lister Square. The firm, which has 35 partners and employs more than 250 staff in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, has taken a 15 year lease on more than 36,000 sq ft in Quartermile, signalling a new phase in its long history. [more...]
Positive outlook in PwC business survey
Private business leaders in Scotland are more confident in their future than other UK regions, despite the current recession, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP has found. 81.1% predict that, rather than decline, their business situation will improve or stay the same in the next 12 months — the most positive region according to results from the forthcoming PwC Enterprising UK 2009 survey. [more...]
Tolley’s Yellow Tax Handbook increases by 150% under the Labour Government
LexisNexis has announced the launch of the 2009 edition of its authoritative tax guide, Tolley’s Yellow Tax Handbook. Over the last 12 years, the annual guide has more than doubled in size, highlighting the growing complexity of the UK tax system and the impact of the government’s recent attempts to introduce recession busting legislation. [more...]