Chapter: 4
EY recommendations for Scotland’s financial services industry

Policy

A targeted, three-year plan for policy change that supports financial services firms to drive economic growth, focused on:

Updates to the visa regime that make it easier to attract and retain global talent.
Changes to the personal tax regime to address disparities between Scotland and wider UK, and beyond.
Development of physical and technological infrastructure to help ensure Scotland can compete on the global stage and attract inbound investment.
Funding of R&D to raise Scotland’s game on financial innovation and FinTech growth.

A strategic vision to better enable financial services firms to access, attract and retain highly-skilled global talent, covering:

A formalised route and central hub for junior talent to access and use to continue learning and accelerating their professional skills.
A robust programme of upskilling that provides funding and access to resources to individuals, especially those trained in data and technology, sustainable finance and asset management.
A commitment to build out partnerships between the education sector and the financial services industry, particularly in the data, technology and AI space.

Formal coordination across government and business to raise Scotland’s global profile for inward investment, achieved by:

Developing an impactful cross-sector narrative that feeds the investment case for FDI into Scotland, pulling out differentiators and focusing on the highest growth areas.
Expanding the support for and investment routes into, early-stage start-up firms, prioritising measures to close funding gaps.
Encouraging government and financial services trade body trade delegations, with a specific focus on FinTech, sustainable finance and asset management.