Financial Services Growth and Development Board minutes: December 2025

Attendees and apologies

• John Swinney (co-chair), First Minister
• Sue Dawe (co-chair), SFE
• Sandy Begbie, SFE
• Judith Cruickshank, RBS
• Nicola Anderson, FinTech Scotland
• Fraser Wilson, PWC
• Rushad Abadan, Aberdeen Plc
• Arlene Cairns, Phoenix Group
• Al Denholm, Scottish National Investment Bank
• Louisa Knox, Shepherd and Wedderburn
• Nick McGruer, FCA
• Alastair Ross , ABI
• Jackie Leiper, LBG
• Alderman Alastair King DL, City of London Corporation
• Chris Rhodes, Virgin Money
• Angus MacPherson, Noble Group
• Jamie Grant, Barclays Group
• Andrew Hogg, Scottish Government

 

Guests & Observers

• Katarina Lisenkova, NatWest Group
• Maggie McGinlay, ETZ
• Niall Caldwell, SG Exchequer bonds team
• Ben Rose, SFE
• Aleks Tomczyk, FinTech Scotland
• Heather Ross, SFE
• Euan Ryan, FCA

 

Scottish Government      

• Kim Mackay 
• Borbala Szilagyi
• Conal O’Hare

 

Apologies

• Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister
• Barry O'Dwyer, Royal London
• Jane Martin, Scottish Enterprise
• Arleen Arnott, KPMG
• Vida Rudkin, Morgan Stanley
• Scott Walker, Blackrock

Items and actions

Items and actions

Actions and Updates from previous meeting (agenda item 2)

• Scottish Government (SG) officials to work with Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE)/Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FiSGAD) members to agree a timeline to identify secondment opportunities to support SG work on investment

Action completed. Engagement will continue on specific secondee opportunities – discussion will continue in 2026. 

• SG officials to work with SFE to finalise the structure of section 3 of the Investment Summit including ways to personalise engagements by matching investors with opportunities

Action completed.

• SFE to identify asset management firms for DFM to meet aligned to objectives of SFE’s Asset Management Strategy to attract more front office roles to Scotland and liaise with SG officials to agree next steps

To be diarised in 2026.

• SG officials to connect Brand Scotland colleagues with SFE/FiSGAD members ahead of the Investment Summit

Action completed.

Scottish Investment Summit (agenda item 3)

The group discussed October’s Scottish Investment Summit and identified the following key reflections:

• summit successfully connected firms and investors, generating approx. £150m in deals/discussions
• strong collaboration between business, sectors, and universities created a focused agenda
• delivery showcased effective multi-stakeholder cooperation; feedback from attendees and media was highly positive
• continued collaboration essential to maximise follow-up opportunities

The group agreed the following next steps: 

• SFE & City of London (COL) to support next year’s energy sector summit (led by Energy Transition Zone (ETZ))
• SFE & Burness Paul to develop a “Setting Up in Scotland” guide for firms
• explore gaps in Scotland’s scale-up landscape; consider targeted events for renewables, life sciences, defence, and financial services
• build on momentum to showcase investible opportunities and strengthen investor engagement using financial services sector’s convening power
• position summit as part of a sustained international investment strategy, leveraging cultural and international events

Economic Update (agenda item 4)

UK Budget Observations and Analysis

Sandy Begbie

• lack of growth measures; examples of detrimental taxation decisions impacting economy and spending power; limited action on public service reform
• missed opportunity to reform energy profit levy
• salary sacrifice changes (2029) negatively affect private sector pensions

Katarina Lisenkova, NatWest

• lack of explicit growth measures and complex set of tax changes
• preserved capital spending (positive)
• risks: back-loaded spending cuts/tax increases; highest tax burden since WWII by 2030
• growth outlook: productivity downgrade; structural challenges (aging population, trade intensity decline), AI as potential upside
• market reaction: bonds market was initially positive – borrowing costs fell, pound appreciated
• distributional impact: short-term gains for lower-income households; long-term losses for most income groups

FM

• FM noted a disconnect between growth rhetoric and policy; NIC increases; migration policy; energy profit levy impact on oil and gas vs renewables

Member Comments

• business confidence remains low; uncertainty from prolonged pre-budget speculation
• pension withdrawal trends noted; irreversible decisions affecting sentiment

Scottish Government Bonds Programme (agenda item 5)

FM confirmed Scottish Government achieved highest possible sub-sovereign credit rating within the UK, strengthening investment narrative noting that the recommendation to explore SG credit rating/bonds came from the Scottish Government Investor Panel.

Key Strengths Identified:

• diverse and resilient economy
• prudent financial management
• strong institutional framework (Fiscal Commission, SNIB, Revenue Scotland)

Implications:

• foundation for potential bond issuance
• enhances Scotland’s investment narrative internationally

Industry reaction has been positive and seen as a significant achievement.  FM stated that this gives Scotland a tangible and credible investment proposition for Scotland, with external validation. Bond issuance offers different borrowing structures that might diversify our borrowing sources and suit our requirements.  

Next steps: run tender for book-runner procurement.

Member comments

• Scotland’s credit rating is same as UK’s and the bond offers a practical route for engagement which helps people understand the devolved settlement and to provide a window into the Scottish economy and its investment potential

SFE Skills refresh and Skills Summit (agenda item 6)

Sandy Begbie provided an overview of the SFE skills strategy refresh and highlighted the following points: 

• SFE speaking with Education Scotland to support introducing the getintofinance platform into secondary schools to promote the industry in a language young people understand
• apprenticeship demand exceeds supply; concerns over levy allocation and need for system reform

FM committed to continuing engagement on this topic.

Close/AOB (agenda item 7)

Sandy Begbie provided an update on the pilot they are running on automatic opening of bank accounts. Two local authorities and six secondary schools are participating. All young people will receive financial education and automatic opening of a bank account. There is a full evaluation process wrapped around it and the project will expand to 12 local authorities.   

Actions

• continue collaboration through further discussions to take forward agreed next steps from the investor summit to deliver a sustained international investment strategy for Scotland

• SG officials to share next steps for bond process with members when confirmed