eFinancialCareers

The expansion of Scotland’s financial services sector has been one of the success stories over the last few years, but now it seems job losses facing the industry could drag down the wider local economy. Job fears within banking in Scotland are growing, and an over-reliance on the financial services sector in the country means that at least 50,000 (but as many as 117,000) jobs across all industries could... Read more

A clear favourite has emerged as the next chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland in the form of John McFarlane, who currently sits on the bank’s board as non-executive director. However, a political battle has begun to take shape and other candidates are emerging from the woodwork. The appointment of McFarlane, a Scot who was previously chief exec of Australia and New Zealand banking group ANZ, would ease the sensitivities... Read more

With Royal Bank of Scotland nationalised and HBOS set to be snapped up by Lloyds TSB at a bargain price, concerns are mounting about just how many of the nearly 35,000 jobs north of the border will be for the chop. The chief executives and chairmen of the banks have already left, and RBS looks set to scale back its investment banking and capital markets activities, but the fate of... Read more

It was really a question of when, rather than if, the top brass at Scotland’s largest banks would step down after the escalating problems of recent weeks. Within minutes of one another, both the chief executives and chairmen of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS resigned after the banks accepted a £37bn government bailout. Last week, RBS denied that it was looking for a replacement for chief exec Sir... Read more

Cracks are beginning to appear in Scotland’s previously solid financial services industry as it suffered the biggest ever fall in quarterly output. The Scottish government hasn’t exactly been quick out of the blocks to report the slump, only just revealing that financial services suffered an 8.4% decline in the first three months of 2008. The biggest driver of this was the banking sector, which slipped by10.9% in Q1 – and... Read more

Female bankers have largely failed to claw their way up the career ladder in Scotland, according to one top headhunter. Douglas Kinnaird, director of Macdonald Kinnaird in Glasgow, has been recruiting executives for over 20 years. Over that period he’s compiled figures for the number of applicants for roles that have been female. This has totted up to a measly 4.8% this year – up from 3.2% when he... Read more

After the flurry of corporate finance deals in Scotland in the lead up to the implementation of the capital gains tax changes, transactions have slowed. But accountancy firms north of the border continue to bolster their advisory teams. Grant Thornton expanded its corporate finance team this week, with the appointment of Scott Langlands and David Sloan, along with announcing a series of promotions in that division. Similarly, Graeme Smith was... Read more